DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


BY  THE   SAME  AUTHOR 

Domesticated  Animals.  The  Dog,  Beasts 
of  Burden,  the  Horse  and  Birds.  Illustrated. 
8vo 2.50 

Sea  and  Land.  Features  of  Coasts  and 
Oceans  with  especial  reference  to  the  Life 
of  Man.  Illustrated.  8vo 2.50 

Aspects  of  the  Earth.  A  Popular  Account 
of  Some  Familiar  Geological  Phenomena. 
With  loo  illustrations.  New  and  Cheaper 
Edition.  8vo 2. 50 

Nature  and  Man  in  America.    i2mo.     1.50 


• 


AFRICAN    ELEPHANT 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


THEIR  RELATION  TO  MAN  AND  TO  HIS 
ADVANCEMENT  IN  CIVILIZATION 


BY 


NATHANIEL  SOUTHGATE  SHALER 

DEAN    OF    THE    LAWRENCE    SCIENTIFIC    SCHOOL    OF 
HARVARD    UNIVERSITY 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1895 


COPYRIGHT,  1895,  BY 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION,  i 


THE    DOG 

Ancestry  of  the  Domesticated  Dogs. — Early  Uses,  of  the  Animal  :  Variations  induced 
by  Civilization. — Shepherd-dogs  :  their  Peculiarities  ;  other  Breeds. — Possible  In- 
tellectual Advances. — Evils  of  Specialized  Breeding. — Likeness  of  Emotions  of 
Dogs  to  those  of  Man :  Comparison  with  other  Domesticated  Animals. — Modes 
of  Expression  of  Emotions  in  Dogs. — Future  Development  of  this  Species. — Com- 
parison of  Dogs  and  Cats  as  regards  Intelligence  and  Position  in  Relation  to  Man,  .  IT 


THE    HORSE 

Value  of  the  Strength  of  the  Horse  to  Man. — Origin  of  the  Horse. — Peculiar  Ad- 
vantage of  the  Solid  Hoof. — Domestication  of  the  Horse. — How  begun. — Use 
as  a  Pack  Animal. — For  War. — Peculiar  Advantages  of  the  Animal  for  Use  of 
Men. — Mental  Peculiarities. — Variability  of  Body. — Spontaneous  Variations  due 
to  Climate. — Variations  of  Breeds. — Effect  of  the  Invention  of  Horseshoes. — 
Donkeys  and  Mules  compared  with  Horse. — Especial  Value  of  these  Animals. — 
Diminishing  Value  of  Horses  in  Modern  Civilization. — Continued  Need  of  their 
Service  in  War,  .............  57 


THE    FLOCKS   AND    HERDS  :      BEASTS    FOR   BURDEN, 
FOOD,    AND   RAIMENT 

Effect  of  this  Group  of  Animals  on  Man. — First  Subjugations. — Basis  of  Domestica- 
bility. —Horned  Cattle. — Wool-bearing  Animals. — Sheep  and  Goats. — Camels: 
their  Limitation. — Elephants  :  Ancient  History  ;  Distribution  ;  Intelligence  ;  Use 
in  the  Arts  ;  Need  of  True  Domestication. — Pigs  :  their  Peculiar  Economic  Value  ; 
Modern  Varieties  ;  Mental  Qualities. — Relation  of  the  Development  of  Domesti- 
cable Animals  to  the  Time  of  Man's  Appearance  on  the  Earth,  .  .  .  103 


114925 


vni  CONTENTS 

DOMESTICATED    BIRDS 

PAGE 

Domestication  of  Animals  mainly  accomplished  by  the  Aryan  Race  ;  Small  Amount  of 
Such  Work  by  American  Indians. — Barnyard  Fowl:  Mental  Qualities  ;  Habits  of 
Combat. — Peacocks  :  their  Limited  Domestication. — Turkeys  :  their  Origin  ;  tend- 
ing to  revert  to  the  Savage  State. — Water  Fowl :  Limited  Number  of  Species 
domesticated  ;  Intellectual  Qualities  of  this  Group. — The  Pigeon  :  Origin  and 
History  of  Group  ;  Marvels  of  Breeding. — Song  Birds. — Hawks  and  Hawking. — 
Sympathetic  Motive  of  Birds  :  their  ./Esthetic  Sense  ;  their  Capacity  for  Enjoy- 
ment, .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .152 


USEFUL    INSECTS 

Relations  of  Men  to  Insect  World. — But  Few  Species  Useful  to  Man. — Little  Trace 
of  Domestication. — Honey-bees  :  their  Origin  ;  Reasons  for  no  Selective  Work  ; 
Habits  of  the  Species. — Silkworms  :  Singular  Importance  to  Man. — Intelligence 
of  Species. — Cochineal  Insect. — Spanish  Flies. — Future  of  Man  relative  to  Use- 
ful Insects,  ..............  igo 


THE    RIGHTS    OF    ANIMALS 

Recent  Understanding  as  to  the  Rights  of  Animals  ;  Nature  of  these  Rights  ;  their 
Origin  in  Sympathy. — Early  State  of  Sympathetic  Emotions. — Place  of  Statutes 
concerning  Animal  Rights. — Present  and  Future  of  Animal  Rights. — Question  of 
Vivisection. — Rights  of  Domesticated  Animals  to  Proper  Care  ;  to  Enjoyment. — 
Ends  of  the  Breeder's  Art. — Moral  Position  of  the  Hunter. — Probable  Develop- 
ment of  the  Protecting  Motive  as  applied  to  Animals,  .....  204 


THE    PROBLEM    OF    DOMESTICATION 

The  Conditions  of  Domestication  ;  Effects  on  Society  ;  Share  of  the  Races  of  Men  in 
the  Work. — Evils  of  Non-Intercourse  with  Domesticated  Animals  as  in  Cities  ; 
Remedies. — Scientific  Position  of  Domestication  ;  Future  of  the  Art. — List  of 
Species  which  may  Advantageously  be  Domesticated. — Peculiar  Value  of  the  Birds 
and  Mammals. — Importance  of  Groups  which  tenant  High  Latitudes. — Plan  for 
Wilderness  Reservations  ;  Relation  to  National  Parks. — Project  for  International 
System  of  Reservations. — Nature  of  Organic  Provinces  ;  Harm  done  to  them  by 
Civilized  Men. — Way  in  which  Reservations  would  Serve  to  Maintain  Types  of 
the  Life  of  the  Earth  ;  how  they  may  be  Founded. — Summary  and  Conclusions,  .  218 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FULL-PAGE    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

AFRICAN  ELEPHANT, Frontispiece 

SHEEP-DOGS  GUARDING  A  FLOCK  AT  NIGHT,     .        .  .        .        .          10 

HOUNDS  RUNNING  A  WILD  BOAR, 53 

ON  ROTTEN  Row,  HYDE  PARK,  LONDON, 63 

CAVALRY  HORSE, 71 

A  HURDLE  JUMPER, 79 

ENGLISH  POLO  PONIES,     .        .        .        .        .        .        ...        .        .        .89 

WINNOWING  GRAIN  IN  EGYPT,    .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .         in 

THE  HALT  IN  THE  DESERT  AT  NIGHT — THE  STORY  TELLER,     .        .        .121 
CARRYING  THE  SUGAR  CANE  IN  HARVEST — EGYPT,          .        .        .        .         125 

FEEDING  SILKWORMS  WITH  MULBERRY  LEAVES  IN  JAPAN,          .        .        .193 
THE  FARMER'S  APIARY 199 

ILLUSTRATIONS    IN    THE   TEXT 

GREYHOUND  AFTER  "THE  KILL," .13 

ST.  BERNARD 1.5 

SPANIEL  RETRIEVING  WILD  DUCK, .17 

BULL-DOG, 22 

FOX-HOUND   AND   PUPS, 25 


x  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

POINTER  RETRIEVING  A  FALLEN  BIRD, 26 

POINTER  AND  SETTER,  FLUSHING  GAME, 27 

DUTCH  DOGS  USED  IN  HARNESS, 30 

KING  CHARLES  SPANIEL,           .        .        . 33 

THE  POUNCE  OF  A  TERRIER, 35 

POMERANIAN  OR  "  SPITZ," 38 

POODLES, 39 

COLLIE, .        .41 

A  HUNTER, 60 

HORSE  OF  A  BULGARIAN  MARAUDER 67 

MARE  AND  FOAL, 68 

PLOUGH  HORSES,  FRANCE,       .        .        •        .        .        ...        .        .73 

BELGIAN  FISHERMAN'S  HORSE, 76 

HORSES  FOR  TOWING  ON  THE  BEACH  IN  HOLLAND, 78 

EXERCISING  THE  THOROUGHBREDS, 84 

AN  ARABIAN  HORSE 85 

ARABIAN  SPORTS, 86 

SYRIAN  HORSE, 92 

IN  THE  CIRCUS, 96 

DOMESTICATED  BUFFALOES  IN  EGYPT, 104 

CATTLE  OF  INDIA, 105 

INDIAN  BULLOCK  AND  WATER-CARRIER, 108 

PLOUGHING  IN  SYRIA, 109 

EGYPTIAN  SHEEP, 114 

BEDOUIN  GOAT-HERD—PALESTINE, 116 

THE  GREAT  CARAVAN  ROAD— CENTRAL  ASIA, 119 

CAMELS  FEEDING, 123 

CAMELS  ALONG  THE  SEA  AT  TWILIGHT, 127 

AN  INDIAN  ELEPHANT 134 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

PAGE 

THE  ORIGINAL  JUNGLE  FOWL  (Gallus  bankiva)  AND  SOME  OF  HIS   DO- 
MESTIC DESCENDANTS, 153 

HOUDIN,  COCHINS,  LEGHORNS,  AND  GAME .        .158 

BANTAMS,  BRAHMA,  AND  DORKINGS, ,        .         160 

CONTRIBUTIONS   FROM  ASIA,  AFRICA,  AND  AMERICA — PEACOCKS,  GUINEA- 
FOWL,  AND  TURKEY .        .        .         163 

THE  DOMESTICATED  TURKEY,          .        .        ...        „       .        .        .165 

THE  LARGEST  OF  ALL  POULTRY — THE  OSTRICH,       .       .        .        ...         168 

AN  EIDER  COLONY,   .        .        .        .  ~     ..       .  .       .       .        .        .    170 

TERNS  AIDING  A  WOUNDED  COMRADE,      .......        171 

SOME  RECENT  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  POULTRY  YARD,     .       ..."..     .        .        .     173 

SWANS,    .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        ,        .        .    *   .        174 

THE  ORIGINAL  WILD   ROCK  DOVE    (  Columba   lima )  AND   SOME   OF   ITS 

DOMESTIC  DESCENDANTS, .        .        .        175 

TURTLE  DOVES,        .....        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .     177 

THE  GIANT  CROWNED  PIGEON  OF  INDIA,     .......     178 

THE  ENGLISH  PHEASANT, .        .        .         181 

THE  FALCONER'S  FAVORITE— PEREGRINE  FALCON,        .        .       .        .        .184 
THE  BANDIT'S  BROOD, '.       .        186 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


INTRODUCTION 

ONE  of  the  effects  of  the  modern  advance  in  natural 
science  has  been  greatly  to  increase  the  attention  which  is 
devoted  to  the  influences  that  the  conditions  of  diverse 
peoples  have  had  upon  their  development.  Man  is  no  longer 
looked  upon,  as  he  was  of  old,  as  a  being  which  had  been 
imposed  upon  the  earth  in  a  sudden  and  arbitrary  manner, 
set  to  rule  the  world  into  which  he  had  been  sent  as  a 
master.  We  now  see  him  as  one  of  the  myriad  species  which 
has  won  its  way  by  powers  of  mind  out  of  darkness  and  the 
great  struggle  to  the  place  of  command.  The  way  in  which 
this  creature,  weak  in  body  and  exceedingly  dependent  on 
his  surroundings,  has  in  the  modern  geologic  epoch  come 
forth  from  the  mass  of  the  lower  animals,  is  by  far  the  most 
impressive  and  as  yet  the  most  unexplained  phenomenon 
which  the  geologist  has  to  consider.  It  is  not  likely  that  the 
marvellous  advancement  can  be  accounted  for  by  any  single 
cause  ;  it  is  probably  due,  as  are  most  of  the  great  evolutions, 
to  the  concurrence  of  many  influences ;  but  among  these 
which  make  for  advance,  we  clearly  have  to  reckon  the 
animals  and  plants  which  man  has  learned  to  associate  with 
his  work  of  the  household  and  the  fields. 

Although  certain  species  of  insects,  particularly  the  ants, 
have   the  well-developed   habit  of  subjugating  certain   creat- 


2  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

ures  of  their  own  family,  man  is  the  only  vertebrate  that 
has  ever  adopted  the  plan  of  domesticating  a  variety  of 
animals  and  plants.  The  beginnings  of  this  custom  were 
made  in  a  very  remote  time,  and  for  long  ages  the  profit 
which  was  thereby  gained  appears  to  have  been  but  slight. 
Gradually,  however,  races,  owing  to  their  masterful  quality 
and  to  the  opportunities  which  were  offered  by  the  wild 
life  about  their  dwelling  places,  obtained  flocks  and  herds. 
In  the  group  of  continents  commonly  termed  the  old  world, 
where  there  were  several  ancient  primitive  peoples  of  in- 
nate ability,  and  where  there  were  many  species  of  larger 
mammals  which  were  well  fitted  for  domestication,  the 
advance  in  social  development  went  on  rapidly.  In  the  new 
world,  though  the  primitive  races  contained  tribes  of  much 
ability,  there  was  practically  no  chance  for  the  people  to  add 
to  their  strength  by  the  subjugation  of  beasts  of  burden,  or 
to  their  food  resources  by  the  adoption  of  various  animals 
which  could  be  used  for  the  needs  of  food  or  raiment.  The 
advance  of  men  when  they  have  obtained  valuable  domes- 
ticated animals,  and  their  failure  to  win  a  high  station  where 
the  surrounding  nature  denied  such  opportunities,  go  far  to 
prove  the  bearing  of  this  accomplishment  in  the  development 
of  peoples. 

A  little  consideration  makes  it  evident  to  us  that  the 
advance  of  mankind  above  the  original  savage  state  is  in 
several  ways  favored  by  the  possession  of  domesticated  ani- 
mals. In  the  first  place,  each  creature  which  is  adopted  into 
the  household  or  the  fields  usually  brings  as  its  tribute  a  sub- 
stantial contribution  to  the  resources  which  tend  to  make 
the  society  commercially  successful.  When  we  consider  the 
enlargements  of  resources  and  -the  diversification  of  indus- 


INTRODUCTION  3 

tries  which  rest  upon  the  adoption  of  any  one  of  these 
animals — as,  for  instance,  the  horse — we  see  in  a  way  what  the 
possession  of  domesticated  animals  and  plants  really  means, 
and  are  in  a  position  to  conceive,  though  at  best  but  dimly, 
what  the  scores  of  these  captive  species  have  done  for  us. 
We  recognize  the  fact  that  while,  under  almost  any  condi- 
tions, a  certain  manner  of  advance  above  the  most  primitive 
savagery  is  possible  to  a  naturally  able  people,  this  on-going 
cannot  lead  any  distance  unless  the  folk  have  other  help 
than  their  own  weak  bodies  can  give  them.  It  is  hardly  too 
much  to  say  that  civilization  has  intimately  depended  on  the 
subjugation  of  a  great  range  of  useful  species. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  trace,  if  we  could,  what  share 
the  several  domesticated  animals  have  had  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  human  races  ;  but  this  task  is  not  to  be  done. 
We  can,  however,  discern  that  the  Arab  without  the  camel 
and  the  horse  would  not  have  found  the  place  in  history 
which  he-  has  filled,  and  that  our  own  race  could  not  have 
attained  its  place  save  for  the  aid  which  the  horned  cattle, 
sheep,  and  a  host  of  other  helpers  which  we  have  pressed 
into  service,  have  afforded.  These  economic  gains  have  to 
be  judged  in  mass,  they  cannot  be  reckoned  in  detail.  When 
we  have  made  the  best  account  of  them  we  can,  there 
remains  another-  class  of  influences,  the  value  of  which, 
though  evidently  great,  is  yet  harder  to  reckon  ;  these  arise 
from  the  education  which  has  been  attained  through  the  care 
of  these  adopted  creatures.  Among  savages  the  great  need 
is  a  training  in  forethoughtfulness  ;  all  primitive  peoples  are 
like  children,  they  live  in  the  interests  of  the  day  ;  the  cares 
of  the  seasons  to  come,  or  even  of  the  morrow,  are  not  for 
them.  The  possession  of  domesticated  animals  certainly  did 


4  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

much  to  break  up  this  old  brutal  way  of  life  ;  it  led  to  a 
higher  sense  of  responsibility  to  the  care  of  the  household  ; 
it  brought  about  systematic  agriculture  ;  it  developed  the  art 
of  war ;  it  laid  the  foundations  of  wealth  and  commerce,  and 
so  set  men  well  upon  their  upward  way.  Moreover,  the  use 
of  domesticated  animals  of  the  better  sort  enabled  the  more 
vigorous  and  care-taking  races  to  gain  the  strength  which  led 
to  their  advancement  in  power  to  a  point  where  they  were 
able  to  displace  the  lower  and  feebler  tribes.  In  other  words, 
the  system  of  domestication  has  provided  a  method  by  which 
those  peoples  who  were  fitted  to  develop  the  qualities  wrhich 
make  for  civilization  could  advance ;  it  has  provided  the 
opportunity-  for  selection. 

Of  all  the  influences  which  have  been  exercised  on  man 
by  the  care  of  his  flocks,  herds,  and  droves,  perhaps  the  most 
important  is  that  which  has  arisen  from  the  broader  develop- 
ment of  his  sympathies.  The  savage  may  be  defined  as  a 
man  who  cares  only  for  his  family  and  his  tribe  ;  the  civilized 
man  as  one  whose  kindly  interest  extends  to  mankind  and 
beyond  to  all  sentient  beings,  In  the  development  of  this 
altruistic  motive  the  care  of  the  dependent  species  has 
evidently  been  most  effective.  We  note  that  the  peoples 
who  have  attained  the  first  upward  step  in  the  association 
with  domesticated  animals  are  in  their  quality,  so  far  as 
tested  by  literature  and  history,  much  above  the  mere  sav- 
age. With  the  care  of  the  flocks  we  find  associated  poetry, 
the  first  notes,  of  higher  religious  motives,  and  a  largeness 
of  the  sympathetic  life  which  is  favored  by  the  nature  of 
the  occupation.  Where  .the  nomadic  habits  of  the  original 
shepherds  pass  into  the  more  sedentary  state  of  the  soil 
tiller,  the  element  of  personal  care  and  the  affection  and 


INTRODUCTION  5 

the  consequent  education  of  the  sympathy  were  increased. 
Men  had  now  to  care  for  half  a  dozen  or  more  kinds  of 
animals  ;  they  had  to  learn  their  ways,  in  a  manner  to  put 
themselves  in  their  places  and  conceive  their  needs.  Thus 
the  life  of  a  farmer  is  a  continual  lesson  in  the  art  of  sym- 
pathy ;  with  the  result,  certainly  in  part  due  to  this  cause, 
that  there  is  no  class  of  people  from  whom  the  brutal  in- 
stincts of  the  ancient  savage  life  which  we  all  inherit  have 
been  so  completely  eradicated. 

It  is  perhaps  too  much  to  attribute  the  advance  of  the 
agricultural  classes  of  our  civilized  peoples,  in  all  that  serves 
to  remove  them  from  the  brutality  of  their  savage  ancestors, 
altogether  to  the  nature  of  their  work — to  the  very  large 
element  of  kindly  care  for  which  it  calls,  and  which  is  the 
price  of  success  in  the  occupation.  Yet  when  we  note  the 
immediate  way  in  which  the  people  bred  in  cities,  under 
circumstances  of  excitement  are  wont  to  behave  like  savages 
of  the  lower  kind,  showing  in  their  conduct  a  lack  of  all 
sympathetic  education,  and  contrast  their  behavior  with  that 
of  their  kinsmen  from  the  fields — we  see  essential  differences 
in  character  which  cannot  well  be  explained  save  by  the 
diverse  natures  of  the  training  which  the  men  have  received. 
Thus  in  the  French  Revolution,  the  baser,  more  inhuman 
deeds  were  not  committed  by  the  peasants,  who  had  been 
the  principal  sufferers  under  the  regime  which  was  over- 
thrown, but  by  the1  people  of  the  great  towns  who  had  been 
less  oppressed  by  the  iniquities  of  the  old  system  of  gov- 
ernment. 

If  it  be  true — as  my  personal  experiences  and  observations 
lead  me  firmly  to  believe  is  the  case — that  man's  contact  with 
the  domesticated  animals  has  been  and  is  ever  to  be  one  of 


6  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

the  most  effective  means  whereby  his  sympathetic,  his  civil- 
ized motives  may  be  broadened  and  affirmed,  there  is  clearly 
reason  for  giving  to  this  side  of  life  a  larger  share  of  atten- 
tion than  it  has  received.  So  far  the  presence  of  these  lower 
creatures  in  our  society  has  generally  been  accepted  as  a 
matter  of  course.  Sentimentalists,  after  the  fashion  of  Lau- 
rence Sterne,  have  dwelt  upon  the  imaginary  woes  of  the 
creatures.  Associations  of  well-meaning  people  have  en- 
deavored to  diminish  the  cruelty  which  people  of  the  towns, 
rarely  those  bred  on  the  soil,  often  inflict  upon  them.  It 
seems,  however,  desirable  that  we  should  place  this  con- 
sideration upon  a  plane  more  fitting  the  knowledge  of  our^ 
time.  It  should  be  made  plain,  not  only  that  the  success  of 
our  civilization  depends  now  as  in  the  past  on  the  coopera- 
tion which  mankind  has.,  had  from  the  domesticated  animals, 
but  also  that  the  development  of  this  relation  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  features  in  all  history.  On  through  the 
ages  of  the  geologic  past  comes  this  great  procession  of 
life,  in  the  endless  succession  of  species  whose  numbers  in 
the  aggregate  are  to  be  reckoned  by  the  scores,  if  not  by 
the  hundreds  of  millions.  Until  this  modern  age,  the  throng 
goes  forward  blindly,  groping  its  way  towards  the  higher 
planes  of  life.  At  length  certain  of  the  more  advanced 
forms  attain  to  a  measure  of  intellectual  elevation.  Still, 
for  all  this  advance,  the  life  is  not  organized  so  as  to  attain 
any  large  ends  ;  no  society  arises  from  it. 

Suddenly,  in  the  last  geological  epoch,  man,  the  descend- 
ant of  a  group  which  like  all  others  had  led  the  narrow  life 
of  the  preparatory  ages,  appears  upon  the  scene.  At  first, 
and  in  his  lower  human  estate,  his  position  was  not  notice- 
ably higher  than  that  of  his  kindred,  but  there  was  in  him 


INTRODUCTION  7 

the  seed  of  a  great  unlikeness,  of  very  new  things,  in  that  his 
desires  had  an  element  of  the  unlimited  which  was  to  grow 
apace,  and  in  time  to  make  him  greedy  of  on-going.  As  this 
innovating  creature  sought  for  agents  of  power  in  the  wilder- 
ness about  him,  he  blindly  laid  hands  upon  such  of  the  fellow 
tenants  of  the  wilds  as  might  serve  his  immediate  needs. 
This  species,  both  animals  and  plants,  endowed  with  the 
capacity  for  variation,  the  plasticity  which  is  in  general  a 
characteristic  of  all  organic  forms,  were  early  led  by  their 
new  master,  as  of  old  they  had  been  guided  by  the  old 
organic  laws.  They  changed  according  to  his  choice,  aban- 
doning their  ancient  ways  for  the  novel  paths  of  civilization. 
With  this  association  of  the  higher  forms  of  the  earth  under 
the  leadership  of  man,  there  began  an  entirely  new  and 
unprecedented  condition  of  the  world's  affairs.  In  place  of 
the  ancient  law  of  nature  there  came  the  control  of  our  spe- 
cies which  had  been,  in  a  way,  chosen  to  be  the  overlord  of 
life. 

At  first,  the  number  of  species  of  animals  and  plants  which 
man  brought  under  his  control  was  very  limited ;  it  was 
indeed  confined  to  those  which  might  readily  be  subjugated 
to  meet  immediate  needs.  Gradually,  however,  the  list  has 
been  extended  until  it  included  thousands  of  forms,  which, 
while  they  meet  no  need  such  as  the  savage  recognizes,  are 
gratifying  to  the  taste  or  the  ambitions  of  civilized  peoples. 
These  aesthetic  devices,  or  those  of  necessity,  are  advancing 
so  rapidly  that  each  generation  sees  hundreds  of  new  animal 
and  plant  species  added  to  our  living  collections,  so  that  our 
plant  and  animal  gardens  now  contain  a  large  share  of  the 
more  attractive  forms  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  various 
geographical  realms.  Our  tilled  fields  yield  perhaps  a 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

hundred  times  as  many  varieties  of  plants  as  they  did  in  the 
earliest  historic  agriculture.  The  advance  in  the  process  of 
domestication  is  not  so  rapid  as  regards  the  animal  kingdom 
as  it  is  with  the  realm  of  plants,  and  this  mainly  for  the  reason 
that  animals  have  a  will  of  their  own  which  has  to  be  bent  or 
broken  to  that  of  man.  Still  it  goes  on  apace.  We  of  to-day 
have  at  our  command  many  times  the  number  of  sentient  spe- 
cies contributive  to  our  pleasure  or  profit  that  had  been  made 
captive  at  the  beginning  of  our  era»  Naturally,  in  the  early 
days  of  domestication,  men  brought -under  their  control  the 
greater  number  of  the  animals  which  gave  promise  of  utility. 
As  no  new  species  of  any  economic  importance  have  been 
created  within  the  last  geologic  period,  the  field  for  the  exten- 
sion of  economic  domestication  has  of  late  been  very  limited. 
But  the  realm  of  sympathetic  appreciation,  unlike  the  econo- 
mic, knows  no  definite  bounds,  and  promises  in  time  to  bring 
all  the  more  important  organic  forms  under  the  care  of  the 
sympathetic  and  masterful  being  who  has  been  chosen  as 
the  ruler  of  terrestrial  life. 

We  thus  see  that  the  matter  of  domesticated  animals  is 
but  a  part  of  the  larger  problem  which  includes  all  that 
relates  to  man's  destined  mastery  of  the  earth — a  mastery 
which  he  is  rapidly  winning.  It  means  that,  in  time,  a  large 
part  of  the  life  of  this  sphere  is- to  be  committed  to  his  care, 
to  survive  or  perish  as  he  wills,  to  change  at  his  bidding,  to 
give,  as  other  subjugated  kinds  have  done,  whatever  of  profit 
or  pleasure  they  may  contribute  to  his  endless  advancement. 
From  this  point  of  view  our  domesticated  creatures  should  be 
presented  to  our  people,  with  the  purpose  in  mind  of  bring- 
ing them  to  see  that  the  process  of  domestication  has  a  far- 
reaching  aspect,  a  dignity,  we  may  fairly  say  a  grandeur,  that 


INTRODUCTION  9 

few  human  actions  possess.  If  we,  can  impress  this  view,  it 
will  be  certain  to  awaken  men  to  a  larger  sense  of  their 
responsibility  for,  and  their  duty  by,  the  creatures  which  we 
have  taken  from  their  olden  natural  state  into  the  social 
order.  It  will,  at  the  same  time,  enlarge  our  conceptions  of 
our  own  place  in  the  order  of  this  world. 

In  the  following  pages  little  effort  has  been  made  to  pre- 
sent those  facts  concerning  domesticated  animals  which  would 
commonly  be  reckoned  as  scientific.  The  several  essays 
which,  in  larger  part,  were  separately  printed  in  Scribner's 
Magazine,  are  intended  for  those  persons  who,  while  they 
may  not  care  to  approach  the  matter  in  the  manner  of  the 
professional  inquirer,  are  glad  to  have  the  results  which 
naturalists  have  attained,  so  far  as  they  may  serve  to  extend 
knowledge  of  things  which  lie  in  the  field  of  familiar  experi- 
ences. To  the  text  as  it  at  first  appeared,  numerous  additions 
have  been  made,  and  the  concluding  chapters,  on  the  Rights 
of  Animals,  and  on  the  Problem  of  Domestication,  are  new. 
In  them  an  effort  is  made  to  direct  attention  to  the  import- 
ance of  the  problem  of  man's  relation  to  the  lower  life  which 
is  about  him,  and  which  in  the  future  far  more  than  in  the 
past  is  to  be  helped  or  hindered  by  his  rule.  Our  life  is 
made  up  of  large  problems  ;  but  there  seem  few  that  are 
greater  than  this,  which  concerns  our  duty  by  the  creatures 
that  share  with  us  the  blessings  of  existence,  and  over  which 
we  have  come  to  rule. 


THE    DOG 

Ancestry  of  the  Domesticated  Dogs. — Early  Uses  of  the  Animal :  Variations  induced  by 
Civilization. — Shepherd-dogs  :  their  Peculiarities  ;  other  Breeds. — Possible  Intellectual 
Advances. — Evils  of  Specialized  Breeding. — Likeness  of  Emotions  of  Dogs  to  those  of 
Man  :  Comparison  with  other  Domesticated  Animals. — Modes  of  Expression  of  Emo- 
tions in  Dogs. — Future  Development  of  this  Species. — Comparison  of  Dogs  and  Cats  as 
regards  Intelligence  and  Position  in  Relation  to  Man. 

IT  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  first  creature  which  man 
won  to  domesticity  was  made  captive  and  friend  for  the  sake 
of  companionship  rather  than  for  any  grosser  profit.  The 
clog  was,  the  world  over,  the  first  living  possession  of  man 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  kindred.  He  has  been  so  long 
separated  from  the  primitive  species  whence  he  sprang  that 
we  cannot  trace  with  any  certainty  his  kinship  with  the  creat- 
ures of  the- wilderness.  Like  his  master  he  has  become  so 
artificialized  that  it  is  hard  to  conjecture  what  his  original 
state  may  have  been. 

Naturalists  are  much  divided  in  opinion  in  all  that  relates 
to  the  origin  of  our  ancient  and  common  domesticated 
animals  ;  and  this  for  the  reason  that  the  longer  a  creature 
has  been  subjected  to  the  change-bringing  conditions  of  our 
fields  and  households,  the  further  it  has  departed  from  the 
parent  stock.  This  difficulty  is  naturally  the  greatest  in  the 
case  of  the  dogs,  for  the  reason  that  they  have  been  longer 
and  more  completely  under  the  control  of  man  than  any 
other  of  the  lower  animals.  Some  students  of  the  problem 
have  inclined  to  th.e  opinion  that  the  dog  is  a  descendant 


12  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

of  the  wolf ;  the  whelps  of  this  species,  it  is  supposed,  were 
captured  by  primitive  men  and  brought  under  domes- 
tication. Savages,  like  children,  are  much  given  to  bringing 
the  young  of  wild  animals  to  their  homes;  if  the  condi- 
tions are  favorable  they  will  care  for  these  captives,  even 
if  the  charge  upon  their  resources  is  tolerably  heavy. 
With  most  primitive  people,  however,  life  is  so  vagari- 
ous and  starvation  so  recurrent  that  they  are  not  apt  to 
retain  their  pets  long  enough  to  establish  domestkated 
forms.  Thus,  among  o.ur  American  Indians,  though  they 
show  fondness  for  wild  creatures  as  much  as  any  other 
people,  no  species  save  the  dog  ever  became  permanently 
associated  with  their  tribe.  It  is,  however,  possible,  that 
in  some  sedentary  group  of  savages  the  work  of  domesti- 
cating the  ancestors  of  the  dog,  even  if  they  were  wolf-like, 
was  accomplished. 

The  difficulty  of  this  view  is  that  even  with  the  high 
measure  of  care  which  the  conditions  of  civilization  permit 
us  to  devote  to  the  effort,  it  has  been  found  impossible  to 
educate  captive  wolves  to  the  point  where  they  show  any 
affection  for  their  masters,  or  are  in  the  least  degree  useful 
in  the  arts  of  the  household  or  the  occupations  of  the 
chase.  They  are,  in  fact,  indomitably  fierce  and  utterly 
self-regarding.  It  seems  unreasonable  to  believe  that  any 
savage  would  have  found  either  pleasure  or  profit  from 
an  effort  to  tame  any  of  the  known  species  of  wolves. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  dogs  show  little  or  no  tendency  to 
revert  to  the  form  and  habits  of  their  brutal  kindred,  or 
to  interbreed  with  them,  is  clearly  against  the  supposition 
that  there  is  any  close  relation  between  the  creatures. 

Yet  other  speculative  inquirers  have  sought   the  origin  of 


THE  DOG  13 

the  dog  through  the  admixture  of  the  blood  of  several  differ- 
ent species,  the  wolf  and  the  jackal  being,  perhaps,  the  prin- 
cipal or  the  only  components  of  the  hybrid  stock.  Here,  too, 
the  evidence  of  nature  is  against  the  supposition.  No  one 
has  ever  succeeded  in  hybridizing  the  wolf  and  the  jackal, 
nor  do  our  dogs  show  any  more  tendency  to  revert  to  the 
jackal  than  to  the  wolf.  They  meet  their  tropical  relative 


Greyhound  after  "the    Kill" 

with  as  much  animosity  as  is  proper,  or  at  least  customary, 
in  the  intercourse  of  allied  yet  distinct  species.  In  fact, 
all  the  indices  by  which  we  are  able  to  carry  back  the 
history  of  other  domesticated  animals  to  their  primitive  or 
even  extinct  ancestry,  fail  in  the  case  of  the  dog.  When 
the  stock  is  allowed  to  go  as  nearly  wild  as  they  can 
be  induced  to  become,  we  do  not  find  that  they  thereby 
approach  to  any  known  wild  form.  It  therefore  seems 


H  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS     . 

reasonable  to  betake  ourselves  to  another  basis  for  the 
natural  history  of  the  dog,  which  has  not  yet  been  made 
a  matter  of  much  inquiry,  but  which  promises  to  afford  us 
more  substantial  truth  than  the  conjectures  which  we  have 
just  considered. 

We  should,  in  the  first  place,  note  the  fact  that  the  ances- 
tors of  our  more  important  domesticated  animals,  those  which 
have  been  longest  in  subjugation,  have  commonly  disappeared 
from  the  wild  state — the  species,  except  for  the  cultivated 
forms,  having  gone  into  the  irrecoverable  past.  This  is  the 
case  with  the  wild  kindred  of  our  bulls,  horses,  sheep,  and 
camels,  there  probably  being  none  of  the  original  wild  species 
of  these  groups  now  living,  except  those  which  have,  been 
more  or  less  completely  subjugated  by  man,  and  then  have 
returned  to  the  wilderness.  The  fact  is,  that  with  any  large 
mammal  the  domestication  of  the  species  tends  to  bring 
about  the  destruction  of  the  remaining  wild  forms.  If  we 
go  back  in  fancy  to  the  time  when  the  dog  was  taken 
in  from  the  wilderness,  we  readily  perceive  how  certainly 
the  subjugated  individuals  would  have  mingled  with  their 
wild  kindred,  so  that  either  the  wild  would  have  become 
tame  or  vice  versa.  The  same  incompatibility  which  exists 
between  slavery  and  freedom  in  our  own  species  in  any 
given  territory  may  be  said  to  hold  in  the  case  of  captive 
animals.  It  is  particularly  on  this  account  that  I  am  dis- 
posed to  think  that  our  races  of  dogs  have  been  derived 
from  one  or  more  original  species  of  truly  canine  ancestors, 
the  wild  forms  of  which  have  long  since  disappeared  from 
the  earth. 

Although  there  are  no  species  of  wild  dogs  now  in  exist- 
ence to  which  we  can  refer  the  origin  of  our  household  friends, 


THE  DOG 

there  are  several  known  to  us  only  in  theirTossTT  state,  from 
which  they  may  possibly — indeed,  we  may  say  probably— 
have  been  derived.  These  creatures  are,  of  course,  repre- 
sented only  by  their  skeletons,  and  even  these  remains  have 
only  been  found  in  an  imperfect  state  of  preservation.  It  is 
evident,  however,  that  these  extinct  species,  or  at  least  cer- 
tain of  them,  lived  down  to*  -the  time  when  man  had  come 


St.    Bernard 


upon  the  earth,  and  was  beginning  to  speculate  on  his  sur- 
roundings for  such  company  and  help  as  he  might  win 
therefrom.  It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know  that  a  spe- 
cies of  American  dog  existed  in  the  Southern  Appalachians 
down  to  a  very  recent  time — recent,  at  least,  in  a  -geo- 
logical sense.  The  remains  of  one  of  these  animals  were 
found  by  the  writer  in  a  cave  in  East  Tennessee,  near 
Cumberland  Gap.  From  the  fragments  of  the  skeleton, 
Mr.  J.  A.  Allen  has  described  the  species.  The  animal 


1 6  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

appears  to  have  been  of  moderate  size,  and,  from  the  posi- 
tion of  the  bones,  it  seems  tolerably  certain  that  it  lived 
but  a  few  centuries  ago. 

It  is  clearly  a  reasonable  supposition  that  some  of  these 
primitive  canine  species  may  have  been  far  more  domestic- 
able than  the  existing"  kindred  of  the  dog — the  wolves,  foxes, 
jackals,  or  hyenas — differing  from  their  fiercer  kindred  much 
as  the  zebras  do  from  the  wild  asses,  the  one  form  being 
utterly  undomesticable,  and  the  other  lending  its  back  almost 
willingly  to  the  burdens  which  man  chooses  to  impose.  It 
seems  likely  that  this  primitive  species — perhaps  more  than 
one — whence  the  dog  sprang  was  not  a  very  vigorous  or 
widespread  form  ;  else,  as  before  remarked,  a  savage  would 
have  found  it  impossible  to  keep  his  half-tamed  creatures 
from  rejoining  their  wild  kinsmen.  Thus,  if  a  man  should  in 
this  day  succeed  in  taming  wolves,  in  a  region  where  they 
were  plenty,  to  the  point  where  they  began  to  abide  his 
presence,  or  even  to  have  some  slight  affection  for  him,  the 
call  of  nature  would  be  likely  to  lead  them  back  to  reunion 
with  their  kind. 

It  seems  pretty  certain  that  the  first  steps  in  the  domestica- 
tion of  the  dog  must  be  attributed  not  to  any  distinct  purpose 
of  acquiring  a  useful  companion,  but  to  that  vague  instinct 
which  leads  children  to  make  captives  of  any  wild  animals  with 
which  they  come  in  contact.  The  fancy  for  pets  is  not  only 
common  to  all  mankind,  civilized  and  savage  alike,  but  is 
clearly  exhibited  in  many  of  the  mammals  below  the  level  of 
man.  Almost  every  one  has  observed  cases  where  dogs,  cats, 
and  horses  have  become  attached  to  some  creature  of  an 
alien  species  with  which  they  have  been  by  chance  thrown 
in  contact.  The  higher  the  grade  of  the  intelligence,  the 


THE  DOG  17 

more  sympathetic  with  other  life  the  animal  is  likely  to 
become.  Thus  the  elephants,  whose  natural  endowments  in 
the  way  of  intelligence  are  perhaps  superior  to  those  of  any 
other  wild  creatures,  are,  when  brought  into  captivity,  curi- 
ously prone  to  form  attachments  to  human  beings.  Savages 
appear  to  make  but  little  use  of  their  dogs  in  hunting.  In 
fact,  those  peculiar  combinations  of  instinct  and  training 


<jU*W 


Spaniel  Retrieving  Wild  Duck 


which  we  find  in  our  hounds,  pointers,  setters,  and  other  dogs 
which  have  been  bred  to  serve  the  purposes  of  sportsmen, 
have  been  acquired  but  slowly,  and  are  of  no  value  except 
where  the  search  for  game  is  carried  on  under  what  we  may 
term  civilized  conditions.  The  dog  of  the  savage  is  in  all 
countries  much  like  his  master  —  a  creature  with  few  arts  and 
unaccustomed  to  subdue  his  rude  native  impulses. 

It  seems  most  likely  that  for  ages  the  principal   use  of  the 


1 8  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

dog  which  dwelt  about  the  camps  of  the  primitive  people  was 
found  in  the  reserve  food  supply  which  they  afforded  their 
thriftless  masters.  When  the  hunting  was  successful  the 
poor  brutes  had  a  chance  to  wax  fat,  and  even  in  times  of 
scarcity  they  managed  to  pick  up  enough  food  to  keep  them 
alive.  When  their  masters  were  brought  to  a  state  of  famine 
they  were  doubtless  accustomed,  as  are  many  savages  at  the 
present  time,  to  eat  a  portion  of  their  pack.  In  the  early  con- 
ditions of  humanity  there  was  no  other  beast  which  could  be 
made  to  serve  so  well  this  simple  need  in  the  way  of  proven- 
der. The  dog  is,  in  fact,  the  only  animal  ever  domesticated 
which  can  be  trusted  through  his  own  affections  alone  to 
abide  with  his  master  in  the  endless  changes  of  camp  and  the 
rapid  movements  of  flight  and  chase  which  characterized  men 
before  their  housed  state  began.  In  a  certain  curious  way 
the  use  of  dogs  for  food  has  served  greatly  to  advance  the 
development  of  these  captives.  When  the  savage  was  driven 
to  feed  upon  his  dogs  he  was  naturally  more  willing  to  sacri- 
fice the  least  intelligent  and  affectionate  of  them,  delaying,  to 
the  point  of  extremity,  the  time  when  he  would  kill  those 
which  had  endeared  themselves  to  him.  In  this  way  for  ages 
a  careful  though  unintended  process  of  selection  was  applied 
to  these  creatures,  and  to  it  we  may  fairly  attribute,  as  many 
considerate  naturalists  have  done,  a  large  part  of  the  intellect- 
ual— indeed,  we  may  say  moral — elevation  to  which  they  have 
attained. 

When  the  place  of  the  dog  as  the  first  and  most  intimate 
companion  of  man  was  affirmed  in  the  rude  way  above 
described — when  the  savagery  to  which  he  was  at  first  made 
free  gradually  enlarged  to  civilization,  a  number  of  special 
uses  were  found  for  the  peculiar  capacities  of  the  creature. 


THE  DOG  19 

These  varied  in  the  different  parts  of  the  world,  according  to 
the  peculiarities  in  the  conditions  of  the  masters.  In  high 
latitudes,  where  the  ground  is  ^snow-covered  during  the 
winter  season,  dogs  were  used,  as  they  are  to  this  day,  in 
dragging  sleds.  They  were,  indeed,  perhaps  the  first  animals 
which  were  harnessed  to  vehicles.  When  they  were  brought 
to  serve  this  definite  end,  we  may  well  believe  that  the 
stronger  and  more  enduring  individuals  were  spared  in  times 
of  dearth  for  the  reason  that  they  were  almost  indispensable 
to  their  masters,  and  even  the  little  forethought  which  we 
find  among  primitive  peoples  would  lead  to  their  preserva- 
tion. Here  again,  doubtless,  came  in  the  process  of  unin- 
tended selection  which  has  made  the  Esquimau  sled-dog  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  varieties  of  his  kind. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  the  early  variations 
induced  among  dogs  is  that  which  has  arisen  from  the  pas- 
toral habit.  We  do  not  know  when  this  custom  of  keeping 
sheep  in  large  flocks  was  first  instituted,  but  it  is  evidently  of 
exceeding  antiquity,  probably  far  older  than  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt.  The  custom  could  hardly  have  been  instituted  with- 
out help  of  the  shepherd's  mate,  the  sheep-dog.  Although 
the  creatures  of  this  breed  are  probably  in  form  very  near  to 
the  original  wild  species  whence  our  canines  came,  the 
variety  has  as  regards  its  instincts  been,  by  a  process  of 
education  and  selection,  led  very  far  away  from  the  original 
stock. 

The  wild  forefathers  of  this  species  were  clearly  natural 
born  sheep-slayers,  and  the  motive  abides  to  this  day  in  all 
the  breeds  which  have  the  strength  to  assail  our  unresisting 
flocks.  The  spirit  is  so  ingrained  that  even  the  most  civilized 
of  our  house-dogs,  which  may  for  generations  never  have 


20  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

tasted  blood  and  which  show  no  disposition  to  attack  the 
other  animals  of  the  barn-yard,  cannot  be  trusted  alone  with 
sheep.  When  two  or  more  of  them  are  together  the  old 
instincts  of  the  wild  pack  return,  and  they  will  slay  with 
insensate  brutality  until  they  are  fairly  exhausted  with  their 
fury.  Their  behavior  on  such  occasions  reminds  one  of  the 
actions  of  their  masters  when  possessed  with  the  blind  rage 
of  a  mob.  Yet  in  the  shepherd-dog  we  find  this  ancestral 
motive,  once  a  large  part  of  the  life  of  the  creature,  so  over- 
come by  education  and  selection  that  they  will  not  only  care 
for  a  flock  with  all  the  devotion  which  self-interest  can  lead 
the  master  to  give  to  the  task,  but  they  will  cheerfully 
undergo  almost  any  measure  of  privation  in  order  to  protect 
their  charges  from  harm.  The  annals  of  shepherd  districts, 
especially  those  where  winter  snows  fall  deeply,  as  in  Scot- 
land, abound  in  anecdotes  of  a  well-attested  nature  which 
show  how  profoundly  the  dogs  which  tend  the  flocks  are 
imbued  with  the  love  of  the  animals  committed  to  their  care. 
This  affection  is  more  curious  for  the  reason  that  it  is  never 
in  any  measure  returned  by  the  sheep.  To  them  the  cus- 
todian is  ever  a  dreaded  overseer.  He  seems  to  bring  to 
them  nothing  but  the  memories  of  danger  derived  from  the 
experience  which  their  species  acquired  in  far-away  times. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  note  the  behavior  of  a  young 
shepherd-dog  when  he  is  first  brought  in  contact  with  a  flock. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  he  has  an  amazingly  keen  interest  in 
the  sheep.  He  regards  them  with  an  attention  which  he 
gives  to  no  other  living  things,  except  perhaps  his^master. 
Out  of  a  litter  of  well-bred  pups  belonging  to  this  variety, 
the  greater  part  will  at  once  assume  a  curatorial  attitude 
toward  a  flock.  They  will  show  a  disposition  to  keep  them 


THE  DOG  21 

together,  and  will  seize  on  an  individual  only  in  case  he 
undertakes  to  break  away.  They  will  generally  use  no  more 
force  than  is  necessary  to  reduce  the  recalcitrant  to  order. 
They  arrest  him  by  catching  hold  of  the  leg  or  fleece,  and 
rarely  seize  hold  of  the  throat,  which  other  dogs,  led  by  their 
inherited  instincts,  are  apt  at  once  to  assail.  Very  rarely 
does  a  shepherd-dog  of  good  ancestry,  even  at  the  outset  of 
his  career,  attack  a  sheep  in  a  way  which  shows  that  the 
ancient  proclivities  have  been  revived  in  his  spirit.  Even 
then  a  little  remonstrance,  or  at  most  a  slight  castigation,  is 
pretty  sure  to  turn  him  from  his  evil  ways.  If  we  could 
measure  in  some  visible  manner  the  psychic  peculiarities  of 
animals,  we  would  be  led  to  regard  this  great  change  in  the 
instincts  of  the  dog,  which  has  been  brought  about  by  his  use 
in  herding,  as  perhaps  the  most  momentous  transformation 
which  man  has  ever  accomplished  in  any  creature,  including 
himself  ;  for  none  of  our  own  inherited  savage  traits  are  so 
completely  sublated  at  the  time  of  our  birth  as  is  this  old 
and  sometime  dominant  slaying  motive  in  the  shepherd-dog. 

With  the  advancing  differentiation  of  human  occupations 
and  amusements,  our  breeds  of  dogs  have,  by  more  or  less 
deliberate  selection,  been  developed  until  by  form  and 
instincts  they  fit  a  great  variety  of  purposes.  Some  of  these 
pertain  to  industrial  work,  but  the  greater  portion  are  related 
to  the  sports  or  fancies  of  men.  The  turnspit  was  bred  for 
its  short  legs  and  small,  compact  body,  and  was  serviceable 
in  those  treadmills  of  the  hearth  which  have  long  since 
passed  out  of  use,  but  which  were  for  centuries  features  in 
our  kitchens. 

The  massive  type  of  bull-dogs,  characterized  by  "heavy 
frames  and  an  indomitable  will,  appears  to  have  been  brought 


22 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


about  by  a  process  of  selection  having  for  its  unconscious  end 
the  development  of  a  breed  which  should  render  the  herds- 
man of  horned  cattle  something  like  the  assistance  which 
the  shepherd-dog  gave  to  those  who  had  charge  of  flocks. 
In  the  more  primitive  state  of  our  bulls  and  cows  the  creat- 
ures were  much  wilder  than  at  present,  and  were  generally 
kept,  not  in  enclosed  pastures,  but  on  unfenced  ranges.  In 


Bull-Dog 


these  conditions  the  care  taken  needed  the  help  which  the 
ancestors  of  our  modern  bull-dog  afforded.  The  tasks  which 
the  animal  was  called  on  to  perform  were  of  a  ruder  nature 
than  those  which  were  allotted  to  the  shepherd-dog.  Their 
business  was  to  conquer  the  unruly  beast.  They  were  taught 
to  seize  the  muzzle,  and  by  the  pain  they  thus  inflicted  they 
could  subdue  even  the  fiercer  small  bulls  of  the  ancient  type 
of  form.  From  this  original  use  the  cattle-dogs  were  turned 
to  the  brutal  sport  of  bull-baiting,  a  rude  diversion  which  was 
indulged  in  by  our  ancestors  for  centuries,  and  has  only  dis- 


THE  DOG  23 

appeared  in  our  less  cruel  modern  days.  Bred  for  the  bull- 
ring, these  dogs  acquired  the  formidable  strength  and  ferocity 
under  excitement  which  made  their  name  a  terror  and  their 
qualities  a  satirical  embodiment  of  the  ruder  traits  which 
characterized  the  British  folk. 

The  training  which  instituted  the  breed  of  bull-dogs  was 
evidently  much  less  continuous  and  effective  than  that  which 
developed  the  shepherding  variety.  The  use  for  the  creature 
in  the  care  of  herds  has  passed  away.  In  the  older  parts  of 
the  world  cattle  are  kept  only  in  enclosures  ;  and  where,  as  on 
our  frontier,  they  still  range  over  unbounded  fields,  they  are 
guarded  by  horsemen  who  do  not  need  the  assistance  of  dogs 
to  control  the  movements  of  the  herds.  No  longer  service- 
able either  in  economies  or  sports,  the  breed  of  true  bull-dogs 
is  rapidly  disappearing.  As  we  may  often  observe  in  other 
fields  of  development,  the  peculiarities  of  this  breed  are  now 
under  the  control  of  fancy,  and  the  blood  is  being  led  far 
away  from  its  old  characteristics.  The  bull-terrier  and  other 
varieties,  which  retain  something  of  the  form  and  of  the 
solemn  demeanor  which  characterized  their  ancestors,  but 
which  are  too  small  to  assail  horned  cattle,  mark  the  van- 
ishing stages  of  this  great  stock,  which  will  soon  be  known 
only  in  memory.  The  history  of  this  peculiar  herd-dog 
shows  us  how  marvellously  pliant  the  body  and  mind  of  this 
species  has  become  under  the  conditions  of  civilization.  The 
rude  process  of  unconscious  selection,  acting  without  stead- 
fastness of  purpose  or  rationally  developed  skill,  serves  to 
sway  the  qualities  of  the  animal  this  way  or  that  to  meet 
the  ever-changing  requirements  of  use  or  fancy.  A  similar 
selection  in  the  case  of  our  horned  cattle  has  within  a  few 
-centuries  converted  the  cows  into  mild-mannered  and 


24  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

sedentary  milk-making  machines,  and  has  deprived  the  bulls 
of  the  greater  part  of  their  ancient  savage  humor.  Owing  to 
this  change  in  the  quality  of  their  associates  in  captivity  the 
dogs  have  also  been  led  into  great  variations.  The  same 
type  of  interaction  may  be  traced  again  and  again  in  the 
isolated  part  of  the  world  enclosed  within  our  fences,  as  well 
as  in  the  free  realm  of  the  wildernesses.  All  the  individuals 
in  the  great  host  of  life  affect  each  other  as  do  the  soldiers 
of  a  well-organized  army  in  the  movements  of  a  battle. 

The  shepherd-dog,  the  turnspit,  and  the  bull-dog  are  the 
three  remarkable  variations  of  the  canine  blood  which  were 
brought  about  by  a  process  of  training  and  selection  uncon- 
sciously directed  to  the  institution  of  breeds  suited  to  special 
economic  ends.  The  other  varieties  of  dogs  have  been 
shaped  more  distinctly  for  purposes  of  amusement  or  for  the 
indulgence  of  mere  fancy.  The  several  varieties  of  hounds, 
harriers,  beagles,  pointers,  setters,  terriers,  etc.,  have  been 
designed  to  meet  a  dozen  or  more  variations  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  chase.  The  marvellously  complete  way  in 
which  special  peculiarities  have  been  developed  in  mind  and 
body  makes  this  field  of  domestic  culture  the  most  fascinating 
subject  of  inquiry  to  the  naturalist.  The  ordinary  fox-hound 
has  had  his  inheritances  determined  so  as  to  fit  him  for  pur- 
suing a  small  animal  which  can  rarely  be  kept  in  view  during 
its  flight,  and  which  can  only  be  followed  by  the  odor  it 
leaves  in  its  trail,  so  these  creatures  run  almost  altogether 
under  guidance  of  their  sense  of  smell.  The  stag-hound,  on 
the  other  hand,  pursues  a  relatively  large  animal  which  can- 
not well  be  followed  by  the  nose,  at  least  with  any  speed  ; 
they  therefore  trust  almost  altogether  to  vision  in  their  chase. 
The  packs  which  hunt  otters  have  developed  the  swimming 


THE  DOG  25 

habit  and  an  array  of  instincts  which  fit  them  especially  for 
this  peculiar  sport.  If  space  allowed  we  could  note  at  least  a 
dozen  divisions  of  the  group  of  hounds  or  chasing  dogs,  each 
of  which  has  developed  a  peculiar  assemblage  of  qualities, 
more  or  less  precisely  adapted  to  some  particular  game. 

Perhaps  the  most  special  adaption  which  man  has  brought 
about   in  his   domesticated  animals  is  found  in  our  pointers 


Fox-Hound   and    Pups 

and  setters.  In  these  groups  the  dogs  have  been  taught,  in 
somewhat  diverse  ways,  to  indicate  the  presence  of  birds  to 
the  gunner.  Although  the  modes  of  action  of  these  two 
breeds  are  closely  related,  they  are  sufficiently  distinct  to 
meet  certain  differences  of  circumstances.  The  peculiarities 
of  their  actions,  it  should  be  noted,  are  altogether  related  to 
the  qualities  of  our  fowling-pieces.  These  have  been  in  use, 
at  least  in  the  form  where  shot  took  the  place  of  the  single 
ball,  for  less  than  two  centuries,  and  the  peculiar  training  of 


26 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


our  pointers  and  setters  has  been  brought  about  in  even  less 
time.  It  seems  likely,  indeed,  that  it  is  the  result  of  about 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  teaching,  combined  with  the 
selection  which  so  effectively  works  upon  all  our  domes- 
ticated creatures.  It  thus  appears  that  this  peculiar  impress 


Pointer  Retrieving  a   Fallen    Bird 

upon   the  habits  of    the   hunting-dog  is  the  result  of   some- 
where near  thirty  generations  of  culture. 

Although,  as  has  been  often  suggested,  the  pointing  or 
setting  habit  probably  rests  upon  an  original  custom  of  paus- 
ing for  a  moment  before  leaping  upon  their  prey,  which  was 
possibly  characteristic  of  the  wild  clog,  it  seems  to  me  un- 
likely that  this  is  the  case,  for  we  do  not  find  this  habit  of 
creeping  on  the  prey  among  our  more  primitive  forms  of  dogs 
nor  the  wild  allied  species  as  a  marked  feature.  All  the 


THE  DOG  27 

canine  animals  trust  rather  to  furious  chase  than  to  the  cau- 
tious form  of  assault  by  stealthy  approach  and  a  final  spring 
upon  their  prey,  as  is  the  habit  with  the  cat  tribe.  Granting 
this  somewhat  doubtful  claim  that  the  induced  habits  of  these 
dogs  which  have  been  specially  adapted  to  the  fowling-piece 
rest  upon  an  original  and  native  instinct,  the  amount  of  spe- 


Pointer  and    Setter,    Flushing  Game 

cialization  which  has  been  attained  in  about  thirty  genera- 
tions of  care  remains  a  very  surprising  feature,  and  affords 
one  of  the  most  instructive  lessons  as  to  the  possibilities  of 
animal  culture. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  variation  of  a  spontaneous 
sort,  which  is  now  taking  place  in  our  pointers  and  setters,  is 
considerable.  It  is,  perhaps,  more  distinctly  indicated  here 
than  in  any  other  of  the  breeds  which  are  characterized  by 
peculiar  qualities  of  mind.  All  those  familiar  with  the  behav- 


28  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

ior  of  these  strains  of  dogs  have  observed  the  high  measure 
of  individuality  which  characterizes  them.  I  have  recently 
been  informed  by  a  friend,  who  is  a  hunter  and  a  very  observ- 
ing ,  naturalist,  of  one  of  these  variations  in  the  pointer's 
instinct,  which  may,  by  careful  selection,  possibly  lead  to  a 
very  useful  change  in  the  habits  of  the  animal.  Hunting  the 
Virginia  partridge  in  the  tall  grass  on  the  sea-coast  of  Geor- 
gia, his  dog  found  by  experience  that  his  master  could  not 
discern  him  when  he  was  pointing  birds,  and  that  a  yelp  of 
impatience  would  put  up  the  covey  before  the  gun  was  ready 
for  them.  The  sagacious  dog,  therefore,  adopted  the  habit 
of  backing  away  from  the  point  where  he  first  fixed  him- 
self, so  that  he,  by  barking,  denoted  the  presence  of  the 
birds  without  giving  them  alarm.  Although,  in  this  first 
instance,  the  action  is  purely  rational,  and  is  indeed  good  evi- 
dence of  singular  discernment  and  contriving  skill,  it  seems 
likely  that  by  careful  breeding  it  may  be  brought  into  the 
realm  of  pure  instinct  or  inherited  habit. 

The  great  variation  in  habits  which  is  taking  place  in  those 
varieties  of  dogs  which  are  immediately  under  the  master's 
eye  during  all  the  process  of  the  chase,  is  easily  explained  by 
the  fact  that  these  creatures  are  in  a  position  to  be  immedi- 
ately and  constantly  influenced  during  their  most  active,  and 
therefore  teachable  state  of  mind,  by  the  will  of  man.  A 
pack  of  fox-hounds  is,  to  a  great  extent,  out  of  hand  while 
engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  their  prey  ;  but  a  pointer  or  setter, 
even  when  under  extreme  excitement,  is  almost  completely 
mastered  by  the  superior  will.  When  we  observe  the  extent 
to  which  human  intelligence  is  affecting  the  qualities  of  our 
hunting-dogs,  it  is  not  surprising  to  note  that,  in  almost  every 
district  where  there  are  peculiar  kinds  of  game,  varieties 


THE  DOG  29 

of  the  dog  are  developing  which  are  especially  adapted  to 
its  pursuit.  Thus,  in  the  parts  of  North  America  where  the 
raccoon  abounds,  a  variety  of  hunting-dog  is  in  process  of 
development  which  has  a  singular  assemblage  of  qualities 
which  fit  it  for  this  peculiar  form  of  the  chase.  Although  as 
yet  "  coon-dogs  "  have  not  been  cultivated  for  a  sufficient 
time  to  acquire  distinct  physical  characteristics,  their  habits 
exhibit  a  larger  range  of  specialization  than  those  of  any 
other  breed  of  sporting  dogs. 

In  those  parts  of  the  Americas  where  peccaries  are  hunted, 
the  dogs  used  in  their  pursuit  have  learned  to  beware  of 
assaulting  the  pack  which  they  have  brought  to  bay,  and 
instead  of  indulging  in  the  instinct  which  leads  them  into  that 
way  of  danger  and  of  certain  death,  they  circle  round  the 
assemblage,  compelling  them  to  show  front  on  every  side  and 
so  to  remain  stationary  until  the  hunters  come  up.  Perhaps 
a  score  of  similar  specializations  in  the  modes  of  action  of 
our  dogs  which  are  employed  in  the  chase  could  be  recited; 
but  as  they  all  lead  us  to  one  conclusion — which  is  to  the 
effect  that  these  creatures  are,  as  far  as  their  mental  powers 
are  concerned,  like  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter — we 
may  pass  them  by  for  some  considerations  which  appear  to 
have  escaped  the  attention  of  writers  who  have  discussed  the 
problems  of  canine  intelligence. 

The  singular  elasticity  as  regards  both  mental  and  physi- 
cal qualities  which  the  dog  exhibits,  may  well  be  compared 
with  the  other  conditions  which  we  find  in  certain  of  our 
domesticated  animals,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  horse,  where 
the  mind  shows  but  slight  changes,  and  where  the  body  has 
proved  far  less  plastic  than  among  dogs.  The  readiness 
with  which  the  proportions  of  the  dog  may,  by  the  breeder's 


10 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


art,  be  made  to  vary,  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
group  to  which  this  creature  belongs  is  one  of  relatively 
modern  institution.  It  has  the  plasticity  which  we  note  as  a 
characteristic  of  many  other  newly-established  forms.  The 
flexibility  of  mind  is  a  concomitant  of  the  carnivorous  habit 
where  creatures  obtain  their  prey  by  the  chase.  Such  an  occu- 


Dutch   Dogs  used  in  Harness 

pation  tends  to  develop  agile  minds  as  well  as  bodies,  and 
where  exercised  as  it  doubtless  was  by  the  ancestry  of  the 
dog,  in  the  manner  of  pack  hunting,  where  many  individuals 
share  in  the  chase,  it  is  well  calculated  to  insure  a  certain 
free  and  outgoing  quality  of  the  mind. 

So  long  as  our  dogs  were  employed  in  the  labor  or  the 
organized  recreations  of  man,  the  tendency  of  the  association 
with  the  superior  being  was  in  a  high  measure  educative. 
They  were  constantly  submitted  to  a  more  or  less  critical 


THE  DOG  31 

but  always  effective  selection  which  tended  ever  to  develop 
a  higher  grade  of  intelligence.  With  the  advance  in  the 
organization  of  society  the  dog  is  losing  something  of  his 
utility,  even  in  the  way  of  sport.  He  is  fast  becoming  a 
mere  idle  favorite,  prized  for  unimportant  peculiarities  of 
form.  The  effort  in  the  main  is  not  now  to  make  creatures 
which  can  help  in  the  employments  of  man,  but  to  breed  for 
show  alone,  demanding  no  more  intelligence  than  is  necessary 
to  make  the  animal  a  well-behaved  denizen  of  a  house.  The 
result  is  the  institution  of  a  wonderful  variety  in  the  size, 
shape,  and  special  peculiarities  of  different  breeds  with 
what  appears  to  be  a  concomitant  loss  in  their  intelligence. 
We  often  hear  it  remarked  by  those  who  are  familiar  with 
dogs  that  the  ordinary  mongrels  are  more  intelligent  and 
more  susceptible  of  high  training  than  the  carefully  inbred 
varieties,  which  are  more  highly  prized  because  they  conform 
to  some  thoroughly  artificial  standard  of  form  or  coloring. 
This  is  what  we  should  expect  from  'all  we  know  concerning 
the  breeding.  Where  for  generations  the  dog-fancier  has 
selected  for  reproduction  with  reference  to  the  trifling  and 
often  injurious  features  of  shape  he  seeks  to  attain,  he  natur- 
ally and  almost  necessarily  neglects  to  choose  the  creatures 
in  regard  to  their  mental  peculiarities.  The  result  is  that 
the  breed  tends  to  fall  back  in  these  regards  to  below  the 
level  of  the  ordinary  cur,  who  makes  his  place  in  the  affec- 
tions of  his  owner  because  he  has  attractive  or  useful  quali- 
ties of  mind.  It  appears  to  me,  in  a  word,  that  our  treat- 
ment of  this  noble  animal,  where  he  is  bred  for  ornament,  is 
in  effect  degrading. 

Although   the  formation   of    our   fancy   breeds    does    not 
serve  to  advance  the   development  of   those  intellectual  feat- 


32  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

ures  which  are  the  most  interesting  part  of  our  dogs,  the 
experiments  have  served  to  show  the  amazing  physical 
plasticity  of  this  species  under  the  conditions  of  long  domes- 
tication. The  range  in  'size  between  a  tiny  spaniel,  such  as 
those  which  are  bred  in  Chihuahua,  in  northern  Mexico,  and 
the  great  Danes  or  mastiffs  of  northern  Europe,  is,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  which  has  ever  been  attained  in  any  mammal. 
In  some  cases  the  larger  individuals  belonging  to  the  mastiff 
breed  probably  weigh  nearly  thirty  times  as  much  as  their 
smaller  kinsmen.  Great  as  are  these  variations,  they  are 
only  in  form  and  bulk.  They  involve  none  of  those  curi- 
ous changes  in  the  number  of  bones  of  the  skeleton  which 
we  may  trace  among  the  domesticated  pigeons.  We  there- 
fore turn  from  these  results  of  breeders'  fancy  to  consider 
certain  of  the  mental  qualities  of  dogs  which  have  not  come 
in  our  way  in  our  review  of  the  history  of  its  relations  to 
man. 

First  of  all,  we  may  note  the  fact  that  the  friendly  rela- 
tions which  dogs  have  become  accustomed  to  form  with  men 
vary  exceedingly  in  their  range  and  activity.  Perhaps  in  no 
other  regard  does  the  dog  exhibit  such  distinctly  human  char- 
acteristics as  in  the  way  in  which  he  meets  the  individuals  of 
the  mastering  species.  The  gamut  of  their  social  relations 
with  men  is  almost  exactly  parallel  with  our  own.  With  from 
one  to  a  dozen  persons  a  dog  may  maintain  an  attitude  of 
almost  equally  complete  sympathy  and  mutual  understanding. 
He  may  be  on  terms  of  acquaintanceship  in  varied  degrees 
of  familiarity  with  a  few  score  others  with  whom  he  comes  in 
frequent  contact.  Toward  the  rest  of  mankind  he  maintains 
a  position  of  more  or  less  complete  distrust,  which  with 
experience  may  attain  the  indifference  which  men  commonly 


THE  DOG 


33 


show  toward  perfect  strangers.  If  we  observe  a  dog  going 
along  a  much-frequented  street,  we  may  note  that  his  rela- 
tions to  the  people  are  substantially  those  which  the  folk 
have  to  each  other.  He  shows  as  they  do  a  certain  consid- 
eration for  the  individuals  he  encounters,  gives  them  their 
due  place,  and  yet  holds  to  his  own.  It  is  particularly  notice- 
able that  he  avoids  all  contact  with  the  other  passers — in  fact 
a  dog  has  to  be 
much  beside  him- 
self with  rage  or 
fear,  or  insane 
from  disease,  be- 
fore he  will  break 
those  bounds  of 
personality  which 
civilization  has 
set  up  to  guide 
the  conduct  of 


life. 


The  social 


King  Charles    Spaniel 


culture  of  dogs  appears  to  have  gone  to  the  point  where 
they  recognize  the  meaning  of  an  introduction — at  least 
as  far  as  the  sympathetic  relations  of  that  understanding 
are  concerned.  Almost  any  well-bred  dog  will  submit  to 
be  presented  by  his  master,  or  even  by  persons  whom  he 
knows  but  is  not  accustomed  to  obey,  to  a  stranger  to 
whom  he  has  already  exhibited  some  dislike.  During  the 
introduction  he  will  submit  to  those  formal  exchanges  of 
courtesy  which  he  is  accustomed  to  recognize  as  the  indices 
of  friendship.  The  impression  of  this  understanding  seems 
to  be  so  permanent  that  on  subsequent  meetings  the  dog, 

3 


34  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

though  he  may  maintain  his  original  dislike  of  the  man  who 
has  been  forced  upon  his  acquaintance,  will  continue  to  treat 
him  with  a  certain  consideration,  though  it  is  often  easy  to 
see  that  it  is  a  difficult  matter  for  him  to  conform  to  the 
requirements  of  society.  When  we  compare  the  conduct  of 
dogs  in  these  regards  with  the  behavior  of  other  animals, 
even  highly  domesticated  forms,  we  perceive  how  marvel- 
lously successful  has  been  man's  unconscious  effort  to  mould 
this  creature  on  his  own  nature. 

Another  extremely  human  characteristic  of  our  canine 
friends  is  shown  in  their  susceptibility  to  ridicule.  Faint 
traces  of  this  quality  are  to  be  found  in  monkeys  and  perhaps 
even  in  the  more  intelligent  horses,  but  nowhere  else  save  in 
man,  and  hardly  there,  except  in  the  more  sensitive  natures, 
do  we  find  contempt,  expressed  in  laughter  of  the  kind  which 
conveys  that  emotion,  so  keenly  and  painfully  appreciated. 
With  those  dogs  which  are  endowed  with  a  large  human 
quality,  such  as  our  various  breeds  of  hounds,  it  is  possible 
by  laughing  in  their  faces  not  only  to  quell  their  rage,  but  to 
drive  them  to  a  distance.  They  seem  in  a  way  to  be  put  to 
shame  and  at  the  same  time  hopelessly  puzzled  as  to  the 
nature  of  their  predicament.  In  this  connection  we  may  note 
the  very  human  feature  that  after  you  have  cowed  a  dog  by 
insistent  laughter  you  can  never  hope  to  make  friends  with 
him.  A  case  of  this  kind  is  fresh  in  my  experience.  A  year 
or  two  ago  I  was  imprudent  enough  to  laugh  at  a  very 
intelligent  dog  in  my  neighborhood,  he  having  unreasonably 
assailed  me  at  my  house-door,  where  he  had  been  left  for  a 
long  time  to  wait  while  his  owner  was  within  and  had  thereby 
been  brought  into  an  unhappy  state  of  mind.  Sympathizing 
with  his  situation,  I  preferred  to  laugh  him  out  of  his  humor 


THE  DOG 


35 


rather  than  to  beat  him  with  my  stick.  I  regret  I  did  not 
take  the  other  alternative,  for  I  made  the  poor  brute  my 
implacable  enemy  by  my  pretence  of  contempt  for  him.  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  if  I  had  beaten  him  the  matter 
could  have  been  arranged  afterward  in  a  friendly  way. 

Another  very  remarkable  and  I  believe  hitherto  unnoticed 


The   Pounce  of  a  Terrier 


likeness  between  the  mind  of  dogs  and  that  of  man  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  these  dumb  beasts,  unlike  all  other  inferior 
animals,  except,  perhaps,  some  of  the  more  intelligent  species 
of  monkeys,  will  learn  lessons  from  isolated  experiences.  In 
this  regard  they  are  indeed  quite  as  apt  as  the  lower  kinds 
of  men.  Thus  a  dog  who  has  had  an  unsavory  or  painful 
experience  with  a  skunk  or  a  porcupine  is  apt  to  keep  away 


36  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

from  these  creatures  for  a  long  time  thereafter.  Where,  as 
is  not  infrequently  the  case,  a  cur  takes  to  eating  eggs,  a 
single  dose  of  tartar  emetic  concealed  in  an  egg  which  is 
placed  where  he  can  readily  find  it,  is  apt  to  effect  an 
immediate  and  complete  reform.  This  ready  learning  from 
experience  is  almost  the  gist  of  our  human  quality — at  least 
on  the  intellectual  side  of  it. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  success  to  which  man  has  attained 
in  his  education  of  the  dog  is  to  be  found  in  the  measure  in 
which  he  has  overcome  the  fierce  rage  which  clearly  charac- 
terized the  ancestors  of  this  creature  when  they  first  felt  the 
mastering  hand.  The  reader  cannot  understand  the  intensity 
of  the  rage  motive  in  the  carnivora  unless  he  has  studied 
some  of  these  brutes  in  their  wild  state,  where  from  the  time 
in  the  remote  ages  when  they  first  began  to  take  on  the 
qualities  of  their  species  they  have  survived  and  won  success 
by  the  fury  of  their  assault.  In  almost  all  our  breeds  of  dogs 
this  primal  ferocity  has  been  overlaid  by  the  various  motives 
of  rationality,  sympathy,  and  conventional  demeanor,  until 
one  may  live  half  a  lifetime  with  well-bred  dogs  without  a 
chance  to  see  the  demon  which  we  have  buried  in  their 
breasts,  as  we  have  in  our  own,  beneath  a  host  of  civilizing 
influences.  It  is  rare  indeed  in  our  day  that  a  dog,  unless 
insane,  will  bite  a  human  being.  The  most  of  their  assaults 
are  pure  bluster,  mere  pretence  of  fury,  as  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  if,  carried  away  by  their  pretence,  they  are  led 
to  use  their  teeth,  it  is  usually  a  mere  sham  assault,  having 
no  semblance  of  the  effectiveness  of  true  combat. 

Something  of  the  pristine  fury  of  the  primitive  dogs  may 
still  be  noted  in  a  certain  brutal  variety  of  watch-dogs  which 
are  still  to  be  found  in  parts  of  continental  Europe.  The 


THE  DOG  37 

best  types  of  this  breed  which  I  have  ever  seen  are  to  be 
found  among  the  dogs  which  are  kept  to  guard  the  quarries 
of  Solenhofen,  in  Bavaria,  whence  come  all  the  fine  litho- 
graphic stones  which  are  so  extensively  used  in  printing. 
These  quarries  are  scattered  over  several  square  miles  of 
untilled  country,  and  the  separate  pits  are  to  be  numbered 
by  the  score.  As  much  valuable  stone  is  necessarily  left 
over  night  in  the  quarries,  their  care  is  confined  to  packs  of 
watch-dogs  which  are  turned  loose  at  night  and  appear  as 
if  by  instinct  to  spend  the  hours  of  darkness  in  prowling 
over  the  territory.  Such  is  their  size  and  ferocity  that  it 
takes  a  sturdy  beggar  to  face  them.  I  remember  inadvert- 
ently disturbing  one  of  these  brutes  from  sleep,  in  the 
strong  cage  where  he  was  confined,  and  I  have  never  beheld 
such  a  picture  of  blind  fury  as  he  exhibited.  I  had  not 
come  within  twenty  feet  of  him,  and  was  merely  moving 
past  his  place  of  confinement ;  yet  he  sprang  to  the  grating 
and  strove  with  his  teeth  to  break  his  way  through  the  bars. 
I  thought  the  animal  must  be  mad,  but  his  keeper  assured 
me  that  such  was  his  ordinary  state  of  mind  and  that  the 
humor  was  common  to  all  the  breed  ;  even  the  masters  dwelt 
in  fear  of  them.  Ordinarily  the  only  exhibitions  of  the 
innate  ferocity  of  our  dogs  are  to  be  seen  in  their  combats 
with  each  other,  when  for  a  time  the  creatures  return  to  their 
primitive  state  of  mind.  Even  these  occasional  exhibitions 
of  fury  are  not  found  among  all  breeds  of  dogs,  and  among 
many  individuals  even  of  the  combative  strains  of  blood  the 
motive  of  battle  appears  to  have  quite  passed  away. 

In  antithesis  to  the  old  Ishmaelitic  humor  of  our  prim- 
itive dogs,  man  has  developed  a  singular,  sympathetic,  and 
kindly  motive  in  these  creatures.  From  the  point  of  view  of 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


the  dog's  education  we  must  not  set  too  much  store  by  his 
affection  for  his  master.  This  kind  of  devotion  of  one  being 
to  another  is  displayed  elsewhere  in  the  animal  kingdom, 
though  it  is  more  common  among  birds  than  among  mam- 
mals. We  find  traces  of  it  in  the  greater  part  of  our  domes- 
ticated creatures  or  in  those  which  we  have  individually 
adopted  from  the  wilderness.  It  is  a  part  of  the  great  sym- 
pathetic motive,  which,  originating  far  down  in  the  series  of 
animals,  increases  as  they  gain  in  the  scale  of  being,  until  it 

reaches  the  high- 
est level  it  has  yet 
attained  in  spirit- 
ually minded  men. 
The  eminent  pe- 
culiarity in  the 
case  of  a  dog  is 
that  the  very 
centre  of  his  life 
is  formed  of  the 
affections,  which 
are  evidently  the  same  as  those  which  rule  the  days  of  the 
most  cultivated  men.  To  him  these  elements  of  friendli- 
ness are  absolutely  necessary  to  a  comfortable  existence.  If 
by  chance  he  becomes  separated  from  his  master  and  the 
other  people  with  whom  he  is  familiar,  his  bereavement  is 
intense  ;  but  in  most  cases,  at  the  end  of  a  day  or  two,  he  is 
compelled  to  form  new  bonds,  and  he  sets  about  the  task  in 
an  exceedingly  human  way.  I  dwell  in  a  town  where  dogs 
abound  and  where  the  frequent  coming  and  going  of  the  peo- 
ple puts  many  of  the  creatures  astray.  Perhaps  as  often  as 
once  a  week,  almost  always  late  in  the  evening,  one  of  these 


Pomeranian  or  "  Spitz  " 


THE  DOG 


39 


unhappy  lost  ones  seeks  to  make  friends  with  me.  His 
advances  toward  this  end  always  begin  by  his  dogging  my 
footsteps  at  a  little  distance.  If  I  do  not  repulse  him  he  will 
come  nearer  until  he  has  made  sure  of  my  attention.  A 
friendly  word  will  bring  him  to  my  hand  ;  but  his  behavior 
is  never  effusive,  as  it  would  be  if  he  had  found  his  right- 
ful owner,  but  mildly  propitiative  and  with  a  touch  of  sad- 
ness. There  is,  it  seems  to  me,  no  other  feature  in  the  life 
of  the  dog 
which  tells 
so  much  as 
to  his  moral 
nature  as 
his  conduct 
under  these 
unhappy  cir- 
cumstances. 
In  the 
long  cata- 
logue of  hu- 
man quali- 
ties which  characterize  our  thoroughly  domesticated  dogs,  we 
must  not  fail  to  take  account  of  their  sense  of  property.  In 
this  the  creature  differs  from  all  other  of  our  domesticated 
animals.  It  is  a  common  characteristic  of  mammals,  both  in 
their  wild  and  tame  state,  that  they  feel  a  motive  of  ownership 
in  the  food  which  they  have  captured  or  in  the  den  which 
they  have  made  their  lair ;  but  beyond  these  narrow  personal 
limits  we  see  no  evidence  of  any  sense  of  ownership  in  land  or 
effects.  We  readily  observe,  however,  that  our  household  dogs 
not  only  know  the  chattels  of  their  master  and  distinguish  them 


Poodles 


i 


40  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

from  those  of  other  people,  but  they  also  learn  to  recognize 
the  bounds  of  their  house-lot  or  even  of  a  considerable  farm. 
When  a  dog,  even  of  a  militant  quality,  enters  on  territory 
which  he  does  not  feel  to  belong  to  him,  he  is  at  once  a  very 
different  creature  as  compared  to  his  condition  when  he  is  on 
his  own  land.  He  treads  warily  and  will  accept  without  dis- 
pute an  order  to  take  himself  off.  A  perception  of  this  sort 
indicates  an  extraordinary  amount  of  sympathy  and  discern- 
ment. It  requires  us  to  assume  that  the  creature  has  a  good 
sense  of  topography  and  that  he  observes  closely  the  various 
acts,  none  of  them  perhaps  very  indicative,  which  go  to  show 
the  limits  of  his  master's  claims. 

Although  the  mental  qualities  of  our  highly  domesticated 
dogs  are  singularly  like  those  of  their  masters,  the  likeness 
going  to  the  point  that  the  household  pet  is  apt  to  have 
acquired  something  of  the  general  character  of  the  people 
with  whom  he  dwells,  there  are  many  suggestive  differences 
arising  from  failures  of  development  which  are  in  the  highest 
measure  interesting  to  those  who  study  the  species.  We 
note,  in  the  first  place,  that  although  for  ages  in  contact  with 
the  constructive  work  which  occupies  his  masters,  the  dog 
shows  no  tendency  whatever  to  essay  any  undertakings  of 
this  nature.  He  is  quite  alive  to  considerations  of  personal 
comfort  and  is  particularly  fond  of  a  warm  bed ;  yet,  except  for 
a  few  unverified  stories,  we  may  say  that  there  is  no  evidence 
whatever  to  show  that  they  ever  try  to  improve  their  con- 
ditions by  deliberately  providing  themselves  with  warm  bed- 
ding. In  no  well-attested  case  has  a  dog  shown  any  sense  as 
to  the  nature  of  any  mechanical  contrivance.  They  will 
learn  which  way  a  door  opens,  and  rarely  if  ever  do  they 
undiscerningly  close  it  when  it  is  slightly  ajar  and  they 


THE  DOG  41 

wish  to  pass  through  the  opening ;  but  I  have  never  been 
able  to  observe  or  obtain  evidence  to  show  that  they  would 
without  teaching  pull  down  a  latch  in  the  way  in  which  a 
cat  readily  learns  to  do.  Much  as  dogs  have  had  to  do  with 
guns,  they  display  no  kind  of  interest  in  the  arms  except  so 
far  as  they  are  tokens  of  sport  to  come.  They  connect  the 


Collie 


explosion  with  the  capture  of  game,  and  will  search  for  it  in 
the  direction  toward  which  the  barrel  was  pointed.  I  have 
not,  however,  been  able  to  find  that  they  know,  as  they 
might  readily  do,  and  as  a  crow  would  surely  do,  when  the 
weapon  was  loaded  and  when  empty.  They  show  no  interest 
in  it,  such  as  monkeys  readily  display  toward  any  mechanical 
contrivarice  to  which  their  attention  has  been  directed.  All 
these  negative  features  indicate  that  the  mechanical  side  of 
the  canine  mind  is  entirely  undeveloped. 


42  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

Although  there  is  some  evidence  that  the  sense  of  num- 
ber attains  a  measure  of  development  in  dogs,  the  ability  to 
form  mathematical  conceptions  of  any  kind  appears  to  be 
very  weak  in  this  species.  The  fact  that  shepherd-dogs,  in  a 
way,  keep  an  account  of  considerable  flocks  so  that  they  will 
know  when  one  is  gone  astray,  can  readily  be  explained  on 
the  supposition  that  they  know  their  charges  individually  and 
not  in  sum.  The  absence  of  arithmetical  capacity  is,  how- 
ever, less  important  than  the  lack  of  mechanical  sense,  for  the 
reason  that  such  incapacity  is  also  common  in  the  lowest  races 
of  men.  Although  dogs,  as  before  noted,  quickly  and  clearly 
acquire  a  notion  of  property  rights  in  all  which  pertains  to 
their  owner's  holdings,  they  appear  never  to  extend  their 
sense  of  their  own  personal  possessions  beyond  the  original 
limit  to  which  they  had  attained  when  the  species  was  domes- 
ticated. The  creature  feels  a  sense  of  personal  property  in 
his  food  and  in  his  sleeping-place,  but  appears  not  to  extend 
his  conception  of  individual  rights  beyond  these  primitively 
established  limits. 

All  our  well-bred  household  dogs  quickly  learn  certain 
bodily  habits  which  are  necessary  to  make  them  acceptable 
members  of  a  household.  These  habits  are  not  well  affirmed 
by  inherited  instinct,  but  the  ease  with  which  the  instruction 
is  acquired  shows  that  they  have  become  prone  to  submit  to 
such  regulations.  Culture  on  this  line  rests  upon  a  primal 
instinct,  originating  we  know  not  how,  which  leads  a  number 
of  wild  animals  to  conceal  their  excrement.  On  the  other 
hand,  these  creatures  exhibit  no  sense  of  modesty,  though 
that,  in  a  more  or  less  complete  measure,  is  characteristic  of 
all  human  tribes  whatsoever. 

As  regards  the  memory,  dogs  appear  to  have  a  consider- 


THE  DOG  43 

ably  greater  measure  of  capacity  than  is  observable  in  any 
other  group  of  domesticated  animals.  There  is  no  question 
that  they  can  recall  their  associations  with  people  from  whom 
they  have  been  separated  for  a  year  or  more.  Some  trust- 
worthy anecdotes  appear  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  recol- 
lections may  endure  for  two  or  three  years.  I  have  observed 
an  instance  in  which  the  memory  seems  perfectly  clear  after 
an  interval  of  eighteen  months,  and  this  concerned  a  person 
who  had  been  with  the  dog  for  a  period  of  not  more  than  four 
days.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  behavior  of  a  dog  when  he 
has  failed  to  recognize  a  person  whom  he  has  known  well, 
but  from  whom  he  has  been  long  separated.  I  have  a  shep- 
herd-dog that  has  known  me  well,  but  the  friendship  is  often 
interrupted  by  partings  of  some  months'  duration.  When, 
after  one  of  these  absences,  I  appear  to  him  in  the  distance, 
he  comes  furiously  towards  me,  quite  possessed  by  his  enmity. 
At  a  certain  point  in  his  charge  a  doubt  begins  to  beset 
him  ;  he  moderates  his  pace  ;  his  roaring  bark  passes  into 
a  whine  ;  and  as  the  full  measure  of  his  blunder  is  borne  in 
upon  him  by  my  voice,  he  becomes  the  picture  of  shame.  In 
his  perplexity,  he  always  finds  relief  in  endeavoring  with  his 
paw  to  scrape  a  supposititious  fly  from  the  side  of  his  nose. 
He  then  deals  with  what  I  suppose  to  be  an  equally  imagin- 
ary flea  ;  after  he  has  thus  gained  a  few  seconds  for  readjust- 
ment, he  welcomes  me  joyously.  All  this  is  so  thoroughly 
human-like,  that  even  the  naturalist,  the  professional  doubter, 
is  forced  to  believe  that  the  dog's  mind  works  substantially  as 
his  own,  and  that  the  feelings  connected  with  the  action  are 
essentially  the  same. 

While  in  the  case  of  the  elephant  and  the  pig,  and  in  a 
less  measure  in  several  other  of  the  lower  animals,  we  have 


44  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

indices  of  as  high  or  even  higher  intelligence  than  the  dog, 
no  other  brute  shows  anything  like  the  same  measure  of  what 
we  may  term  human  quality.  So  far  as  the  field  of  the  emo- 
tions is  concerned,  we  are  driven  to  believe  that  it  has  been 
bred  into  the  kind  by  the  ages  of  intimate  associations,  sup- 
ported by  the  selective  process  which  has  led  people  to  pre- 
serve the  individual  of  the  species  with  which  they  found 
themselves  the  most  in  sympathy.  I  repeat  the  suggestion, 
and  shall  repeat  it  yet  again,  for  the  reason  that  just  here— 
how  effectively  the  reader's  imagination  will  suggest — we  find 
a  basis  for  the  hope  that,  with  time  and  care,  man  may  bring 
his  subjects  of  the  lower  realm  into  a  more  intimate,  affec- 
tionate, and  helpful  relation  than  is  dreamed  of  by  those 
who  look  upon  them  as  mere  brutes. 

The  most  curious  limitation  which  we  find  in  dogs  is  as  to 
the  measure  of  expression  to  which  they  have  attained.  No 
one  who  has  well  considered  the  facts  can  doubt  that  our 
civilized  varieties  of  this  species  have  something  like  a  hun- 
dred times  as  much  which  deserves  utterance  as  their  savage 
forefathers  possessed.  Yet  the  capacity  for  giving  note  to 
these  thoughts  or  emotions  has  not  gained  anything  like  the 
proportion  to  the  needs.  It  seems,  however,  that  some  gain 
in  this  direction  has  been  made,  and  that  much  may  be 
won  hereafter  in  the  way  of  further  advance.  Never  having 
known  the  species  whence  our  dogs  came  in  its  wild  state,  we 
are  uncertain  as  to  its  modes  of  expression  ;  but,  observing 
the  varieties  of  dogs  which  are  kept  by  savages,  it  seems 
probable  that  the  primitive  canines  used  their  voice  only  in 
howling  or  yelping  ;  that  is,  as  a  continuous  sound  akin  to 
the  bellowings  or  other  cries  of  the  various  wild  mammals. 
It  is  characteristic  of  all  these  primitive  forms  of  utterance 


THE  DOG  45 

that  they  are,  to  a  great  extent,  involuntary,  and  that  when 
the  outcry  is  begun  it  continues  in  a  mechanical  manner,  with 
no  trace  of  modulation  arising  from  the  conditions  of  the 
moment.  In  other  words,  these  actions  resemble,  in  a  way, 
sneezing  or  hiccoughing  in  human  kind  ;  actions  which  are 
stimulated  by  certain  states  of  the  body,  but  which  are  not 
at  all  under  the  control  of  the  will.  Howling  or  bellowing 
doubtless  represents,  in  a  measure,  a  state  of  mind  as  well  as 
of  body,  but  the  action  is  of  a  general  and  uncontrolled  kind. 
The  effect  of  advancing  culture  upon  a  dog  has  been 
gradually  to  decrease  this  ancient  undifferentiated  mode  of 
expression  afforded  by  howling  and  yelping,  and  to  replace  it 
by  the  much  more  speech-like  bark.  There  is  some  doubt 
whether  the  dogs  possessed  by  savages  have  the  power  of 
uttering  the  sharp,  specialized  note  which  is  so  characteristic 
of  the  civilized  forms  of  their  species.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  if  they  have  the  capacity  of  thus  expressing  themselves, 
they  use  it  but  rarely.  On  the  other  hand,  our  high-bred  dogs 
have,  to  a  great  extent,  lost  the  habit  of  expressing  them- 
selves in  the  ancient  way.  Many  of  our  breeds  appear  to 
have  become  incapable  of  ululating.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
this  change  in  the  mode  of  expression  greatly  increases  the 
capacity  of  our  dogs  to  set  forth  their  states  of  mind.  If  we 
watch  a  high-bred  dog,  one  with  a  wide  range  of  sensibilities, 
which  we  may  find  in  breeds  which  have  long  been  closely 
associated  with  man,  we  may  readily  note  five  or  six  varieties 
of  sound  in  the  bark,  each  of  which  is  clearly  related  to  a  cer- 
tain state  of  mind.  The  bark  of  welcome,  of  fear,  of  rage,  of 
doubt,  and  of  pure  fun,  are  almost  always  perfectly  distinct  to 
the  educated  ear,  and  this  although  the  observer  may  not  be 
acquainted  with  the  creature  ;  if  he  knows  him  well,  he  may 


46  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

be  able  to  distinguish  various  other  intonations — those  which 
express  impatience  and  even  an  element  of  sorrow.  This 
last  note  verges  toward  the  howl. 

It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  we  should  regard  barking  as 
a  new  and  useful  invention  ;  there  are,  indeed,  few  such  in 
the  organic  world.  The  sound  appears  to  me  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  primitive  habit  of  howling.  If  we  hearken 
to  this  utterance  we  perceive  that  it  is  not  an  unbroken 
sound,  but  is  somewhat  intermittent.  At  either  end  of  the 
prolonged  sound  we  can  often  notice  that  it  is  divided  into 
rather  distinct  yelps  more  or  less  completely  separated  from 
the  other  notes.  The  cries  of  a  dog  when  beaten  often 
exhibit  the  same  peculiarity  ;  so,  too,  the  puppy,  before  he 
has  attained  skill  in  barking,  will  often  prolong  each  utter- 
ance in  a  way  which  makes  its  relation  to  the  ancient  mode 
of  expression  tolerably  clear.  At  the  risk  of  being  deemed 
fanciful,  I  venture  to  suggest  that  the  bark  is  in  effect  a  divis- 
ion of  the  howl  into  clearly  separated  notes,  the  change  hav- 
ing come  about  as  a  similar  alteration  is  effected  in  our  own 
speech,  by  the  increase  in  the  intelligence  which  the  creature 
is  called  upon  to  express.  I  conceive  that  while  the  primitive 
and  massive  emotions  found  satisfying  utterance  in  the  long- 
drawn  notes,  the  more  divided  state  of  mind  of  the  human- 
ized successor  has  led  to  a  change  in  its  utterances.  Although 
these  modifications  of  speech,  if  such  we  may  term  them, 
have  probably  been  developed  on  the  basis  of  the  dog's 
human  relations,  there  is,  it  seems  to  me,  good  reason  to 
believe  that  the  diversities  in  note  have  come  to  have  a 
distinct  conventional  value  between  the  individuals  of  all  the 
different  breeds.  Any  one  who  closely  observes  these  animals 
must  have  noticed  the  fact  that  the  degree  of  attention  they 


THE  DOG  47 

give  to  the  utterances  of  their  kindred  varies  in  a  way  which 
indicates  that  they  have  great  varieties  of  denotations.  Some 
of  the  shades  of  the  meaning  which  a  dog's  bark  has  to 
others  of  his  species  probably  escape  our  less  fine*  ears. 

The  creation  of  something  like  a  language  among  our 
civilized  dogs  has  naturally  been  accompanied  by  the  develop- 
ment of  an  understanding  of  human  speech.  Although  we 
cannot  attach  much  importance  to  the  mass  of  anecdote  on 
this  point,  there  is  enough  which  is  well  attested — sufficient, 
indeed,  which  has  come  within  the  limits  of  my  own  observa- 
tion— to  make  it  clear  that  dogs,  even  without  deliberate 
teaching,  frequently  acquire  a  tolerably  clear  understanding 
of  a  number  of  words  and  even  of  short  phrases.  They  will 
catch  these  not  only  when  given  in  distinct  command,  but 
when  uttered  in  an  ordinary  tone,  without  any  sign  that  they 
relate  to  their  affairs.  It  is  true  that  these  understood 
words  generally  relate  to  some  action  which  the  dog  is 
accustomed  to  perform,  yet  there  are  instances  so  well 
attested  that  they  deserve  credit,  which  seem  to  show  that 
the  creatures  can  get  some  sense  of  the  drift  of  conversation 
even  when  it  is  carried  on  by  persons  with  whom  they  are 
not  familiar  and  does  not  clearly  relate  to  their  own  affairs. 

It  should  be  observed  that  within  the  narrow  limits  of 
this  essay  little  or  no  effort  has  been  made  to  interpret  the 
state  of  mind  of  dogs  from  the  vast  but  rather  untrustworthy 
mass  of  anecdote  with  which  our  books  are  filled.  So  large 
a  part  of  this  evidence  is  contaminated  by  prepossessions,  and 
a  yet  larger  part  is  so  unverified  in  any  scientific  sense,  that 
for  purposes  of  sound  inquiry  it  is  worthless.  It  therefore  . 
seems  best  to  limit  ourselves,  as  has  been  .done  in  this  paper, 
to  those  general  actions  of  the  creatures  which  are  matters 


48  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

of  common  knowledge  and  safely  beyond  question.  From 
these  indices  we  are  able  to  determine  a  basis  for  some 
important  conclusions.  These  are  in  effect  as  follows,  viz.  : 
Our  domestic  dog  is  derived  from  a  species,  one  or  more, 
akin  to  the  wolf,  the  jackal,  and  the  fox  ;  to  a  group  of 
animals  not  characterized  by  great  native  intelligence,  but 
distinguished  for  their  ferocity  and  their  general  untamable- 
ness.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  primitive  dog 
had  any  more  foundation  for  his  great  attainments  than  his 
obstinately  savage  kindred,  except  that  he  may  have  had  a 
greater  disposition  to  form  an  attachment  to  a  master.  We 
can  hardly  believe  that  he  had  any  share  of  that  marvellous 
sympathy  with  man  and  understanding  of  his  motives  which 
characterize  the  high-bred  varieties  of  his  species.  All  this 
vast  transformation,  which  from  a  psychological  point  of 
view  has  carried  the  dog  relatively  as  far  up  above  his  origin 
as  civilization  has  lifted  man  above  his  lowest  estate,  has 
been  due  to  human  intercourse  and  the  long  and  effective 
concomitant  selection  of  good  from  bad.  It  is  hardly  too 
much  to  say  that  a  large  part  of  our  human  nature  has  been 
transferred  into  the  descendants  of  this  ancient  wild  beast. 
The  sense  of  property,  a  great  part  of  human  affections, 
many  of  the  attributes  which  constitute  the  gentleman,  have 
been  passed  over  to  him. 

In  considering  the  effects  arising  from  the  intercourse  of 
man  with  the  dog,  we  should  not  overlook  the  development 
of  human  sympathy  which  has  come  about  through  this  rela- 
tion. The  fact  that  the  dog  has  been  made  by  far  the  most 
.sympathetic  of  the  lower  animals,  is  due  to  the  affection  which 
men  for  thousands  of  years  have  given  to  him.  In  his  inter- 
course with  this  creature,  man  first  learned  to  develop  his 


THE  DOG  49 

altruistic  motives  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  kind.  With 
this  extension  of  his  affection  must  have  begun  the  growth  of 
that  large  motive,  which  is  the  most  distinguishing  feature  of 
our  modern  life,  which  leads  us  to  go  forth  in  a  loving  manner 
to  the  living  beings  about  us,  not  only  to  our  flocks  and  herds 
but  to  the  life  of  .the  unsubjugated  realm  as  well.  Thus,  in  a 
way,  we  may  look  upon  the  dog  as  affording  the  first  steps  on 
the  path  of  culture  which  was  to  lift  man  from  his  primitive 
selfishness  to  the  altruistic  state  to  which  he  has  attained. 

Great  as  has  been  the  work  of  man  upon  the  dog — it 
deserves,  indeed,  to  be  ranked  high  among  all  the  accom- 
plishments of  his  culture — there  is  reason  to  believe  that  if 
he  but  go  forward  with  understanding  in  the  ways  which 
have  hitherto  led  him  blindly  to  his  success,  the  final  result 
may  be  very  much  more  perfect  than  that  which  has  been 
attained.  It  is  on  this  account  that  I  feel  it  fit  to  make 
a  strong  protest  against  the  system  our  breeders  pursue. 
Except  in  the  case  of  dogs  used  in  sport  and  for  herding 
sheep,  the  sole  effort  appears  to  be  to  create  breeds  which 
shall  exhibit  peculiarities  of  form  which  are  mere  extrava- 
gances, and  move  the  real  lover  of  this  noble  animal  to  indig- 
nation. In  these  preposterous  and  unseemly  tasks  no  care 
is  taken  to  continue  the  mental  development  on  lines  which 
have  been  established  by  long  use.  Still  less  is  there  any 
effort  to  essay  the  development  of  the  intelligence  in  ways 
which  are  clearly  open  to  us,  and  which  afford  possibilities 
of  lifting  this  species  to  a  yet  nobler  companionship  with  our 
own  kind. 

It  seems  worth  while  for  our  associations  of  dog  fanciers 
to  undertake  to  develop  varieties  of  dogs  solely  with  refer- 
ence to  the  intellectual  qualities  of  the  animal.  I  venture  to 
4 


50  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

suggest  that  those  who  seek  this  end  should  select  some  of 
the  primitive  types  of  form,  such  as  are  found  among  the 
undifferentiated  mass  of  the  species,  those  which  are  improp- 
erly termed  mongrels,  and  this  for  the  reason  that  among 
these  unselected  creatures  the  intelligence  is  quicker  and 
more  varied  than  it  is  in  the  highly  developed  varieties. 
Under  skilful  trainers  the  successive  generations  bred  in  the 
experimental  station  should  be  subjected  to  tests  which  will 
indicate  the  measure  of  intellectual  ability.  The  results 
already  attained  by  the  unconscious  selection  which  man  has 
applied  serve  to  indicate  that  at  the  end  of  a  century,  and 
perhaps  in  much  less  time,  we  might  develop  an  animal 
which  in  various  ways  would  come  to  a  closer  intellectual 
relation  with  man  than  any  other  lower  species  has  attained. 

Cats  deserve  some  mention  for  the  reason,  that,  while  they 
are  the  least  essential,  and  on  the  whole  the  least  interesting, 
of  domesticated  animals,  they  have  had  a  certain  place  in 
civilization.  They  afford,  moreover,  a  capital  foil  by  which  to 
set  off  the  virtues  of  the  dog.  Nowhere  else,  indeed,  among 
the  creatures  which  are  intimately  associated  with  men,  do  we 
find  two  related  forms  which  afford,  along  with  a  certain  like- 
ness, such  great  diversities  of  quality. 

We  know  nothing  as  to  the  time  when  the  cat  first  found 
its  way  to  the  associations  of  man.  Presumably  this  period 
was  much  later  than  the  advent  of  the  dog  into  the  human 
family.  The  presumption  rests  upon  the  fact  that  while  the 
dog  does  not  demand  fixed  residence  as  a  condition  of  its 
fealty,  but  is  at  home  wherever  his  master  is,  the  cat  is  the 
creature  of  the  domicile,  caring  more  indeed  for  its  dwelling- 
place  than  it  ever  does  for  the  inmates  thereof.  In  a  word, 
the  creature  must  have  come  to  us  after  our  forefathers  gave 


THE  DOG  51 

up  the  nomadic  life.  Nevertheless,  the  association  is  very 
ancient  ;  it  has  endured  in  Egypt  at  least  for  a  term  of 
several  thousand  years. 

Among  the  curious  features  connected  with  the  associa- 
tion of  the  cat  with  man,  we  may  note  that  it  is  the  only 
animal  which  has  been  tolerated,  esteemed,  and  at  times 
worshipped,  without  having  a  single  distinctly  valuable 
quality.  It  is,  in  a  small  way,  serviceable  in  keeping  down 
the  excessive  development  of  small  rodents,  which  from  the 
beginning  have  been  the  self-invited  guests  of  man.  As  it  is 
in  a  certain  indifferent  way  sympathetic,  and  by  its  caresses 
appears  to  indicate  affection,  it  has  awakened  a  measure  of 
sympathy  which  it  hardly  deserves.  I  have  been  unable  to 
find  any  authentic  instances  which  go  to  show  the  existence 
in  cats  of  any  real  love  for  their  masters. 

In  the  matter  of  intelligence  cats  appear  to  rank  almost 
as  high  as  dogs.  They  are  even  quicker  than  their  canine 
relatives  in  discerning  the  nature  of  man's  artful  contriv- 
ances ;  they  readily  acquire  the  habit  of  opening  doors  which 
are  closed  by  means  of  a  latch,  even  where  it  is  necessary  to 
combine  the  strong  pull  on  the  handle  with  the  push  that 
completes  the  operation.  Feats  of  this  sort  are  rarely  if 
ever  performed  by  dogs. 

The  most  peculiar  quality  in  the  mind  of  cats  is  the  intense 
way  in  which  they  cling  to  a  well-known  locality.  Their 
memory  of  places,  and  affection  for  them,  if  we  may  so  term 
it,  is  evidently  far  greater  than  that  which  they  feel  for 
people.  Some  years  ago  I  had  an  interesting  exhibition  of 
this  singular  humor.  A  well-grown  and  thoroughly  domesti- 
cated cat,  one  that  seemed  more  than  usually  attached  to 
people,  was  brought  from  my  house  in  town  to  a  place  on  the 


52  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

shore.  When  released,  the  creature  seemed  for  some  days  to 
be  nearly  insane.  It  did  not  recognize  any  of  its  friends,  it 
betook  itself  to  the  fields,  and  was  with  difficulty  captured  at 
the  end  of  a  week  of  roaming,  during  which  it  appeared  to 
have  had  no  food.  Confined  within  one  room,  it  gradually 
recovered  its  powers  of  mind,  and  began  to  take  account  of 
its  friends.  In  the  course  of  a  month  it  seemed  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  its  surroundings.  Nine  months  after  its  first  sojourn 
in  the  wilderness  it  was  again  brought  from  the  town  to  the 
same  place.  On  the  second  visit  the  creature  was  somewhat 
uneasy,  but  this  passed  away  in  a  day  or  two.  On  a  third 
visit,  after  a  like  interval,  it  seemed  at  once  and  entirely  at 
home.  Nevertheless,  its  habits  while  in  the  country  differ 
very  much  from  those  it  has  in  town.  In  its  original  domi- 
cile it  insists  on  being  about  the  table  at  meal-times.  While 
in  the  country  it  does  not  care  to  be  present ;  in  fact,  it 
appears  to  avoid  associations  with  the  household.  It  seems 
to  me  that  this  cat,  after  the  manner  of  some  men  whose 
brains  are  diseased,  now  lives  in  two  distinct  states  of  con- 
sciousness, each  relating  to  one  of  its  places  of  abode. 

The  differences  as  regards  affection  for  localities  which  is 
shown  by  cats  and  dogs  are  perhaps  to  be  accounted  for  by 
an  original  and  essential  variation  in  the  habits  of  life  in  their 
wild  ancestors.  Judging  by  the  kindred  of  the  species  which 
are  known  to  us  in  their  wild  state,  we  may  fairly  suppose 
that  the  dogs  were  of  old  accustomed  to  range  over  a  wide 
field,  having  no  fixed  place  of  abode  ;  the  pack  ranging,  if  the 
occasion  served,  for  hundreds  of  miles  in  any  direction.  On 
the  other  hand,  with  the  cats,  it  is  characteristic  of  the  species 
that  they  have  lairs  to  which  they  resort,  and  a  definite  hunt- 
ing ground  in  which  they  seek  their  food.  They  are,  in  a 


THE  DOG  55 

word,  animals  of  very  determined  routine.  As  there  has 
been  no  effort  by  breeding  to  change  this  feature,  it  has 
remained  in  all  its  old  ingrained  intensity. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  affection  which  cats  have  for  par- 
ticular places,  they  often  return  to  the  wilderness  when  by 
chance  the  homes  in  which  they  have  been  reared  are  aban- 
doned. Thus  in  New  England,  in  those  sections  of  the  dis- 
trict where  many  farmsteads  have  of  late  years  been  deserted, 
the  cats  have  remained  about  their  ancient  haunts  and  have 
become  entirely  wild.  In  this  State  they  are  bred  in  such 
numbers  that  their  presence  is  now  a  serious  menace  to  the 
birds  and  other  weaker  creatures  of  the  country.  The  behav- 
ior of  these  feralized  animals  differs  somewhat  from  that  of 
creatures  which  have  never  been  tamed.  They  have  not 
the  same  immediate  fear  of  a  man,  but  the  least  effort  to 
approach  them  leads  to  their  hasty  flight. 

While  considering  the  inelastic  quality  which  is  exhibited 
by  cats  as  compared  with  the  dog,  the  naturalist  notes  with 
interest  the  fact  that  the  former  creature  belongs  to  a  family 
which  has  never  been  accustomed  to  any  social  life  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  family.  Moreover,  all  the  cats  have  the 
habit  of  hunting  in  a  solitary  way,  each  for  itself,  in  the 
achievement  and  in  the  result.  It  is  otherwise  with  dogs. 
They  belong  to  a  group  which  hunts  in  packs.  For  ages 
they  have  been  used  to  a  communal  life.  Their  minds 
have  thus  become  accustomed  to  social  intercourse ;  they 
are  used  to  having  their  excitements  of  the  chase  in  com- 
radeship, and  generally  they  are  accustomed  to  the  rough- 
and-tumble  fraternity  which  we  behold  in  a  pack  of  wolves. 
It  was  long  ago  remarked  that  the  really  social  animals  are 
those  which  afford  the  only  good  material  for  subjugation. 


56  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

The  difference  between  the  cat  and  dog  seems,  in  a  way,  to 
warrant  this  statement. 

Although  it  is  likely  that  many  efforts  have  been  made  to 
domesticate  the  other  larger  felines,  no  distinct  success  has 
attended  these  experiments.  A  large  Asiatic  cat  known  as 
the  chetah  is  somewhat  used  in  hunting  for  sport,  but  the 
species  has  never  been  adopted  in  any  definite  way.  In  fact, 
with  all  the  larger  cats,  including  the  lion,  which  is  structu- 
rally a  little  apart  from  the  other  members  of  the  group,  the 
size  and  furious  nature  of  the  animal  have  made  it  impossible 
to  begin  the  process  of  selection  which  has  been  the  means 
whereby  the  wilderness  motive  has  been  replaced  by  that 
of  the  household  in  the  case  of  all  other  domesticated 
beasts. 


THE    HORSE 

Value  of  the  Strength  of  the  Horse  to  Man. — Origin  of  the  Horse. — Peculiar  Advantage 
of  the  Solid  Hoof. — Domestication  of  the  Horse. — How  begun. — Use  as  a  Pack 
Animal*. — For  War. — Peculiar  Advantages  of  the  Animal  for  Use  of  Men. — Mental 
Peculiarities. — Variability  of  Body. — Spontaneous  Variations  due  to  Climate. — Varia- 
tions of  Breeds. —Effect  of  the  Invention  of  Horseshoes. — Donkeys  and  Mules 
compared  with  Horse. — Especial  Value  of  these  Animals. — Diminishing  Value  of 
Horses  in  Modern  Civilization. — Continued  Need  of  their  Service  in  War. 

THE  largest  economic  problem  which  primitive  people 
on  their  way  upward  towards  civilization  had  unconsciously 
to  face  was  that  of  obtaining  some  kind  of  strength  which 
could  be  added  to  the  power  of  their  own  weak  limbs.  For 
all  his  eminent  capacities  of  body,  man  is  not  a  strong  animal, 
nor  is  he  so  built  that  he  can  apply  the  measure  of  strength 
that  is  in  him  to  good  advantage.  There  are  scores  if  not 
hundreds  of  species  with  which  he  came  in  contact  in  his 
effort  to  dominate  nature  that  are  stronger,  swifter,  and 
better  provided  with  natural  weapons.  With  the  first  step 
upward,  as  in  almost  all  the  succeeding  steps,  the  advance 
depended  on  securing  more  energy  than  that  with  which 
our  kind  was  directly  endowed.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say  that  the  progress  of  mankind  beyond  the  savage  state 
would  probably  never  have  been  effected  but  for  the  bodily 
help  which  has  been  rendered  by  a  few  domesticated  animals. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  student  of  domesticated 
animals  the  races  of  men  may  well  be  divided  into  those 
which  have  and  those  which  have  not  the  use  of  the  horse. 


58  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

Although  there  are  half  a  score  of  other  animals  which  have 
done  much  for  man,  which  have  indeed  stamped  themselves 
upon  his  history,  no  other  creature  has  been  so  inseparably 
associated  with  the  great  triumphs  of  our  kind,  whether  won 
on  the  battle-field  or  in  the  arts  of  peace.  So  far  as  material 
comfort,  or  even  wealth,  is  concerned,  we  of  the  northern 
realms  and  present  age  could,  perhaps,  better  spare  the 
horse  from  our  present  life  than  either  sheep  or  horned 
cattle  ;  but  without  this  creature  it  is  certain  that  our 
civilization  would  never  have  developed  in  anything  like  its 
present  form.  Lacking  the  help  which  the  horse  gives,  it  is 
almost  certain  that,  even  now,  it  could  not  be  maintained. 

We  know  the  ancient  natural  history  of  the  horse  more 
completely  than  that  of  any  other  of  our  domesticated 
animals.  We  can  trace  the  steps  by  which  its  singularly 
strong  limbs  and  feet,  on  which  rests  its  value  to  man,  were 
formed  in  the  great  laboratory  of  geologic  time.  The  story 
is  so  closely  related  to  the  interests  of  man  that  it  will  be 
well  briefly  to  set  it  before  the  reader.  In  the  first  stages  of 
the  Tertiary  period,  in  the  age  when  we  begin  to  trace  the 
'evolution  of  the  suck-giving  animals  above  the  lowly  grade 
in  which  the  kangaroos  and  opossums  belong,  we  find  the 
ancestors  of  our  mammalian  series  all  characterized  by  rather 
weakly  organized  limbs  fitted,  as  were  those  of  their  remoter 
kindred  the  marsupials,  for  tree  climbing  rather  than  for 
moving  over  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  fact  is,  that  all 
the  creatures  of  this  great  clan  acquired  their  properties  of 
body  in  arboreal  life,  and  with  such  relatively  small  and 
light  bodies  as  were  fitted  for  tree  climbing.  For  this  use 
the  feet  need  to  be  loose-jointed,  and  so  the  system  of  five 
toes,  each  terminating  in  a  sharp  and  strong  nail  or  claw, 


THE  HORSE  -  59 

became  fixed  in  the  inheritances.  When,  gaining  strength 
and  coming  to  possess  a  more  important  place  in  the  world, 
these  ancient  tree-dwellers  were  able  to  occupy  the  ground 
which  of  old  had  been  possessed  by  the  great  reptiles,  the 
limbs  that  had  served  well  for  an  arboreal  life  had  to 
undergo  many  changes  in  order  to  fit  them  for  progression 
in  the  new  realm. 

If  we  watch  the  progress  of  a  bear  over  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  we  readily  perceive  how  lumbering  is  its  gait  and  how 
poor  the  speed  which  it  attains.  Its  slow  and  shambling 
movement  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  has  the  tree-climbing 
foot,  and  is  not  well  fitted  for  motion  such  as  is  required  in 
running.  To  attain  anything  like  speed  in  this  exercise  it  is 
necessary  to  support  the  body  on  the  tips  of  the  toes.  Every 
man  who  has  gained  any  skill  in  this  art  knows  full  well  how 
incompetent  he  is  if  he  tries  to  run  with  rapidity  in  the  flat- 
footed  manner.  The  bear  cannot  essay  this  method  of  pro- 
gression on  the  toe-tips  because  its  loose-jointed  feet  cannot 
be  made  to  support  its  heavy  body.  In  this  way  arose  the 
necessity  of  developing  a  peculiar  kind  of  foot  when  that  part 
had  to  serve  for  rapid  locomotion.  The  experiments  to  this 
end  have  been  numerous  and  varied.  Thus  in  the  elephants, 
which  retain  the  originally  numerous  toes,  the  bones  of  these 
members  are  planted  in  an  upright  position  and  tied  together 
with  such  strong  muscles  and  sinews,  that  the  foot  parts  have 
something  like  the  solidity  and  strength  of  the  upper  portions 
of  the  legs.  In  the  single-hoofed  or  horse-like  forms,  and  in 
the  cloven-footed  animals,  other  series  of  experiments  have 
been  tried  which  in  the  end  have  proved  most  successful, 
giving  us  animals  with  the  speediest  movements  of  any 
animals  except  the  creatures  of  the  air. 


6o 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


The  success  which  has  been  attained  in  our  ordinary  large 
herbivora,  and  which  has  made  them  competent  to  evade  the 

chase  of  the 
beasts  of  prey, 
has  been  ac- 
complished by 
reducing  the 
number  of  the 
toes,  giving 
the  strength  of 
the  aborted 
parts  to  in- 
crease the 
power  of  those 
remaining. 
The  result  is 
the  formation 
of  two  great 
groups,  the 
double -hoofed 
forms,  includ- 
ing the  pigs, 
deer,  cattle, 
sheep,  and 
their  kindred, 
and  the  single- 
toed  species,  of 


A   Hunter 


which     our 

horse  is  the  foremost  example.  In  the  reduction  of  the 
number  of  toes,  different  plans  were  followed  in  each  of 
these  groups.  In  the  cloven-hoofed  forms,  a  single  toe 


THE  HORSE  6 1 

first  disappeared,  leaving  but  four ;  then  the  two  outer  of 
these  were  aborted,  leaving  two  nearly  equal  digits.  In 
the  series  of  the  horse,  where  we  can  trace  the  change 
more  clearly,  we  find  the  earliest  form  five-toed,  but  the 
outer  and  inner  digit  shrunken  so  as  to  become  of  little 
use.  This  condition  of  the  creature  in  the  early  Tertiaries 
gives  us  the  beginning  of  the  equine  series,  and  shows  that 
far  away  as  the  creature  is  now  from  ourselves,  it  originated 
from  the  main  stem  of  mammalian  life,  from  which  our  own 
forms  have  sprung.  In  the  next  higher  stage  in  time,  and 
likewise  in  development,  we  find  these  lessened  toes  at 
their  vanishing  point,  and  two  of  the  remaining  digits,  lying 
on  either  side  of  what  corresponds  to  the  middle  finger 
in  our  own  hands,  beginning  to  shrink  in  length  and 
volume,  while  the  central  toe  becomes  larger  and  stronger 
than  before.  Last  in  the  series  we  come  to  our  ordinary 
equine  form,  in  which  nothing  is  left  but  the  single  massive 
extremity,  though  the  remnants  of  two  of  the  toes  can  be 
traced  in  the  form  of  slender  bones  known  as  splints,  which 
are  altogether  enclosed  within  the  skin  which  wraps  the 
region  about  the  fetlock  joints. 

As  if  it  were  to  show  to  us  the  history  of  this  marvellous 
organic  achievement,  nature  now  and  then,  though  seldom— 
perhaps  not  oftener  than  one  in  ten  million  instances — sends 
forth  a  horse  with  three  hoofs  to  each  leg.  Two  of  these  are 
small  and  lie  on  either  side  of  the  functioning  extremity. 
Each  of  these  hoofs  is  connected  with  a  splint-bone  which  has 
in  some  way  suddenly  become  reminded  of  its  ancient  use, 
and  develops  in  a  manner  to  imitate  the  creatures  which 
passed  from  the  earth  millions  of  years  ago.  In  most  cases 
the  splint-bones  have  no  function  whatever  to  perform.  They 


62  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

are  indeed  superfluous  and  injurious  parts,  and  are  likely 
from  time  to  time  to  be  worse  than  useless,  becoming  the 
seats  of  disease.  In  this  beautiful  instance,  perhaps  the  fair- 
est of  all  those  showing  how  the  highly  developed  forms  of 
our  time  retain  a*  memory  of  their  ancestral  life,  we  see  how 
the  advance  in  the  series  of  the  horse  has  been  effected 
against  the  resistance  ancient  organic  habit  opposes  to  all 
gains.  We  can  therefore  the  better  understand  how  the 
building  of  the  hoof  represents  the  labor  of  geologic  ages 
during  which  the  slow-made  gains  were  won. 

In  its  present  elaborate  form,  the  hoof  of  a  horse  is  the 
most  perfect  instrument  of  support  which  has  been  devised 
in  the  animal  kingdom  to  uphold  a  large  and  swiftly  moving 
animal  in  its  passage  over  the  ground.  The  original  toe-nail, 
and  the  neighboring  soft  parts  connected  with  it,  have  been 
modified  into  a  structure  which  in  an  extraordinary  manner 
combines  solidity  with  elasticity,  so  that  it  may  strike  violent 
blows  upon  the  hard  surface  of  the  earth  without  harm.  The 
bones  of  the  toe  to  which  it  is  affixed  have  enlarged  with  the 
progressive  loss  of  their  neighbors  of  the  extremity,  until  they 
fairly  continue  the  dimensions  of  the  bony  parts  of  the  leg. 
Moreover,  they  have  lengthened  out,  so  as  to  give  the  limb  a 
great  extension,  and  this,  in  turn,  magnifies  the  stride  which 
the  creature  can  take  in  running.  The  result  is  that  the 
horse  can  carry  a  greater  weight  at  a  swifter  speed  than  any 
other  animal  approaching  it  in  size. 

The  needs  which  led,  in  a  slow  accumulative  way,  to  the 
invention  of  the  admirable  contrivance  of  the  horse's  foot, 
were  doubtless  founded  on  the  necessities  of  swift  movement 
in  fleeing  from  the  great  predaceous  animals.  Incidentally, 
however,  as  this  development  has  gone  on,  the  peculiarities 


THE   HORSE  65 

of  the  extremity  have  proved  highly  advantageous  in  defence, 
and  the  creatures  have  acquired  certain  peculiar  ways  of 
using  their  feet  effectively  to  this  end.  The  solid  character 
of  the  hoof,  its  considerable  weight,  and  the  great  power  of 
the  muscles  of  the  hams,  which  are  the  principal  agents  in 
propelling  the  animal,  make  the  hind  feet  capable  of  deliver- 
ing a  very  powerful  blow.  The  measure  of  its  efficiency  may 
be  judged  from  the  fact  that  a  lion  has  been  slain  by  a  stroke 
from  the  foot  of  a  donkey,  and  in  their  wild  state  a  herd  of 
horses  with  their  heads  together,  can  beat  off  the  attack  of 
the  most  powerful  beasts  of  prey.  In  using  the  hind  feet  for 
assault  or  defence,  horses  have  adopted  an  effective  method 
of  kicking  which  is  unknown  among  other  animals.  Resting 
on  their  fore-legs,  the  hinder  feet  are  thrown  backward  and 
upward,  so  that  they  may  strike  a  blow  six  feet  from  the 
ground.  Many  of  our  cloven-footed  animals  have  learned  to 
strike  cutting  blows  with  the  sharp  hoofs  of  their  fore-limbs 
—our  bulls  will  stamp  a  fallen  enemy  with  great  force ;  but 
the  backward  kick  of  the  horse  is  a  peculiar  movement,  and 
is  distinctly  related  to  the  peculiar  structure  of  the  animal's 
extremities. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  development  of  a  long 
and  slowly  elaborated  series  leading  to  the  making  of  the 
horse  appears  to  have  taken  place  mainly,  if  not  altogether, 
in  the  region  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri  River. 
In  the  olden  days  when  this  great  work  was  done,  that  part 
of  our  continent  was  a  well-watered  country,  much  of  its  sur- 
face being  occupied  by  great  lakes  which  have  long  since  dis- 
appeared. In  the  deposits  accumulated  in  these  bodies  of 
fresh  water  are  found  the  bones  of  the  olden  species  telling 
the  history  of  their  series.  It  is  not  yet  certain  that  the  final 
5 


66  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

step  of  the  accomplishment  which  gave  us  our  existing  spe- 
cies was  effected  in  this  land.  It  seems  indeed  most  likely 
that  the  ancestral  form  of  our  domesticated  horses  found 
their  way  to  the  continents  of  the  Old  World,  and  there 
underwent  the  last  slight  changes,  before  they  were  made 
captive  by  man.  If  there  ever  were  perfect  horses  on  this 
continent,  they  had  passed  away  from  its  area  before  the 
coming  of  man  to  the  land.  The  history  of  our  aborigines 
would  have  been  quite  other  than  it  has  been,  if  they  had 
had  a  chance  to  win  the  assistance  of  this  noble  helpmeet. 

Central  Asia  appears  to  have  been  the  domicile  of  the 
horse  when  he  first  began  his  acquaintance  with  our  kind. 
We  do  not  know  the  original  form  of  the  creature.  The 
wild  horses  existing  at  the  present  day  in  that  part  of  the 
world,  and  which  plentifully  occur  in  other  regions  whereunto 
they  have  been  taken  by  man,  appear  to  have  been  set  free 
from  captivity. 

The  first  domestication  of  the  horse  appears  to  have  been 
brought  about,  at  an  early  time  in  the  history  of  our  race,  in 
northern  Asia.  The  time  when  this  feat  was  accomplished 
antedates  our  records.  The  creature  may  first  have  come 
into  possession  of  the  Tartar  tribes,  but  it  quickly  passed 
over  Asia  and  Europe  and  shortly  became  the  mainstay  of 
the  Aryan  and  Semitic  folk.  None  other  of  our  domesti- 
cated forms  has  been  disseminated  with  like  rapidity,  or  at 
the  outset  with  as  little  change  in  its  original  features.  From 
the  first  the  horse  seems  to  have  been  mainly  used  as  a  saddle 
and  pack  animal.  It  has  never  served  in  any  considerable 
measure  for  food.  The  failure  to  make  use  of  the  flesh  of 
this  animal  appears  to  be  common  to  most  of  the  savage  or 
barbaric  people  who  keep  horses,  and  has  been  transmitted 


THE  HORSE 


67 


in  a  singularly  definite  way  to  all  civilized  folk.  The  origin 
of  such  a  prejudice,  despite  the  fact  that  the  flesh  of  the 
horse  is  of  excellent  quality,  can  only  be  explained  through 
the  sympathetic  motives  common  to  all  men.  Their  associa- 
tion with  the  horse,  as  with  the  dog,  is  so  intimate  as  to  make 
the  use  of  these  animals  in  the  form  of  food  more  or  less 
repugnant.  In  a  small  though  unimportant  way,  mares  have 
been  used  for  milk,  and  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that, 
if  they  had 
been  care- 
fully bred 
for  this  pur- 
pose, they 
might  have 
been  as  ser- 
viceable as 
the  cow.  It 
may  be  that 
the  failure 
to  use  the 

milk  of  the  horse  is  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  same  ground 
as  the  dislike  to  its  flesh. 

The  horse  was  probably  at  first  most  valued  for  its  use 
in  war.  The  peoples  which  possessed  it  certainly  had  a  great 
advantage  over  their  less  well  provided  neighbors.  In  fact 
the  development  of  the  military  art,  as  distinguished  from 
the  mere  fighting  of  savages,  was  made  easy  by  the  strength, 
endurance,  fleetness,  and  measure  of  bravery  characterizing 
this  creature.  In  the  wide  range  of  species  which  have  been 
domesticated  or  might  be  won  to  companionship  with  man, 
there  is  none  other  which  so  completely  supplements  the 


Horse  of  a  Bulgarian   Marauder 


68 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


imperfect  human  body,  making  it  fit  for  great  deeds.  If  the 
horse  had  been  much  smaller  or  larger  than  he  is,  he  would 
have  been  far  less  serviceable  to  man.  It  was  a  most  fortu- 
nate accident  that  the  creature  came  to  us  with  the  propor- 
tions which  insured  a  high  measure  of  utility  in  various  lines 
of  activity.  The  elephant  has  been  found  too  large  for  agri- 


Mare  and  Foal 


cultural  uses,  and  too  powerful    to  be  controlled  by  the  will 
and  force  of  his  master  under  conditions  of  excitement. 

Those  peoples  which  early  acquired  the  resources  in  the 
way  of  strength  and  fleetness  which  the  horse  put  at  their 
disposition,  became  inevitably  the  conquerors  of  the  folk  who 
were  denied  these  advantages.  If  we  consider  the  conditions 
which  have  led  to  the  domination  of  the  world  by  the  Aryan 
and  Semitic  people,  and  the  races  which  they  have  affiliated 
with  them,  we  readily  discern  the  fact  that  they  have,  to  a 


THE  HORSE  69 

great  extent,  won  by  horse-power  rather  than  by  their  own 
physical  strength.  Thus  equipped  by  their  able  servants, 
they  have  pressed  outward  from  their  ancient  realms  and 
have  in  a  way  overridden  the  tribes  which  were  unmounted. 

So  imposing  is  the  effect  of  the  horsed  man  on  all  peoples 
who  are  without  previous  knowledge  of  the  united  creatures, 
that  it  always  carries  fear  to  their  hearts.  To  such  folk  the 
combination  appears  as  a  single  terrible  being.  The  ease 
with  which  the  Spaniards  conquered  Mexico  and  Peru  can, 
to  a  great  extent,  be  attributed  to  the  awe  carried  into  the 
ranks  of  the  savage  footmen  by  their  mail-clad  horses.  The 
Greeks,  who  were  wont  to  represent  the  forces  of  nature  and 
the  accomplishments  of  man  by  skilfully  constructed  myths, 
have  left  a  record  showing  their  appreciation  of  the  strength 
derived  from  the  union  of  horse  and  man,  in  their  fable  of 
the  Centaur,  which  possibly  grew  up  in  a  time  before  their 
people  had  won  the  use  of  the  animal,  and  when  they  only 
knew  the  creature  by  chance  encounters  with  enemies  who 
were  mounted  upon  them.  Although  the  naturalist  of  to-day 
perceives  the  impossibility  of  there  ever  having  been  on  this 
earth  a  form  uniting  the  trunk  and  fore-limbs  of  a  quadruped 
to  the  upper  part  of  a  man's  body,  such  scientific  conceptions 

are  a  part  of  our  modern,  recently  acquired  store  o£~knowl- 

. 

edge.  To  the  Greeks  of  the  myth-making  age  the  creature, 
half  man,  half  horse,  added  but  one  more  wonder  to  the  vast 
store  the  world  already  contained.  The  currency  of  this 
fable  shows  us  very  clearly  how  great  was  the  impression 
which  the  horse  made  upon  primitive  peoples. 

To  perceive  the  value  of  the  horse  in  those  ancient  con- 
tests which  opened  the  paths  of  civilization,  we  must  note 
the  fact  that,  until  the  invention  of  gunpowder,  success  in 


70  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

breaking  the  ranks  of  an  enemy  depended  mainly  on  the 
charge.  With  a  large  body  of  vigorous  horsemen  it  was 
generally  possible  to  overwhelm  an  enemy's  line  of  battle, 
either  by  direct  assault  or  by  an  attack  on  its  flank  or  rear. 
If  the  reader  is  curious  to  see  the  value  of  horsemen  in 
ancient  warfare,  he  should  read  the  story  of  the  campaigns  of 
Hannibal  against  the  Romans  in  Italy.  The  first  successes 
of  that  great  commander — victories  which  came  near  changing 
the  history  of  the  western  world — were  almost  altogether  due 
to  the  strength  lying  in  his  admirable  Numidian  cavalry. 
The  Romans  were  already  good  soldiers,  their  footmen  more 
trustworthy  than  those  which  the  Carthagenian  general  could 
set  against  them  ;  but  with  his  horsemen,  as  at  Cannae,  he 
could  wrap  in  the  Roman  line  and  reduce  the  most  valiant 
legions  to  the  confused  herd  which  awaited  the  butcher. 

Although  the  invention  of  firearms  has  somewhat  changed 
the  conditions  under  which  cavalry  may  be  used,  making 
indeed  the  direct  charge  more  costly  to  the  assailant  than  the 
assailed,  it  has  in  no  wise  diminished,  but  rather  increased, 
the  value  of  horses  in  military  campaigns.  In  the  line  of 
battle  horses  have  become  necessary  for  the  conveyance  of 
field  officers  and  messengers,  and  the  right  arm  of  battle,  the 
artillery,  could  not  possibly  be  managed  except  by  horse- 
power. The  swift  marches  of  modern  armies,  by  hastening 
the  issue  of  contests,  have  spared  the  world  half  the  woes 
of  its  great  campaigns,  and  are  made  possible  by  the  ready 
movement  of  supply  trains,  which  could  not  be  effected 
except  by  the  help  of  these  creatures.  The  result  is  that  a 
large  part  of  the  military  strength  of  any  state  rests  not  only 
in  the  valor  and  training  of  its  fighting  men,  but  in  the 
supply  of  horses  that  its  fields  may  afford.  In  this  connection 


Cavalry  Horse 


THE  HORSE 


73 


it  is  instructive  to  compare  the  military  strength  of  a  country 
like  China,  where  the  horse  is  not  a  common  element  in  the 
life  of  the  people,  with  that  of  any  of  the  western  folk  who 
may  hereafter  have  to  wrestle  with  that  populous  empire. 
Some  writers,  in  their  efforts  to  forecast  the  large  politics  of 
the  future,  have  imagined  that  when  the  hardy  and  obedient 
Chinaman  came  to  receive  the  European  training  in  the  mili- 


fc«     ^  +  XZ v  •*>•"  ^c; 

iTW^S^P 


Plough   Horses,   France 

tary  art,  the  armies  of  that  country  might  prove  from  their 
numbers  a  menace  to  our  own  civilization.  Such  an  issue 
seems  in  a  high  degree  improbable,  for  the  reason  that  the 
eastern  realm  could  not  provide  the  horses  which  would  be 
necessary  for  the  use  of  invading  armies ;  nor  is  it  at  all  likely 
that  the  rigid  framework  of  their  society  will  ever  be  so 
altered  as  to  provide  an  abundance  of  these  animals. 

Although  in  the  first  instance  the  horse  served  mainly,  if 


74  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

not  altogether,  as  an  ally  of  man  in  his  contests  with  his 
neighbors,  its  most  substantial  use  has  been  in  the  peaceful 
arts.  As  pack  animal  and  drawer  of  the  plough,  the  ox 
appears  in  general  to  have  come  into  use  before  its  swifter 
companion.  The  displacement  of  horned  cattle  has  been  due 
to  the  fact  that  their  structure  and  habits  make  them  much 
less  fit  for  arduous  and  long-continued  labor  than  the  horse 
has  been  found  to  be.  The  cloven  foot,  because  of  its 
division,  is  weak.  It  cannot  sustain  a  heavy  burden.  Even 
with  the  unincumbered  weight  of  the  body  of  the  animal,  the 
feet  are  apt  to  become  sore  in  marches  which  the  heavily 
mounted  horse  endures  unharmed.  Centuries  of  experience 
have  shown  that  while  the  ox  is  an  excellent  animal  for 
drawing  a  plough  in  a  stubborn  soil,  and  is  well  adapted  to 
pulling  carriages  where  the  burden  is  heavy  and  the  speed  is 
not  a  matter  of  importance  and  the  distance  not  great,  the 
creature  is  too  slow  for  the  greater  part  of  the  work  which 
the  farmer  needs  to  do.  The  pace  which  they  can  be  made  to 
take  in  walking  is  not  more  than  half  as  great  as  that  of  a 
quick-footed  horse  moving  in  the  same  gait  ;  and  the  ox  is 
practically  incapable,  because  of  its  weak  feet,  of  keeping  up 
a  trot  on  any  ordinary  road.  But  for  the  fact  that  an  aged 
ox  may  be  used  for  beef,  they  would  doubtless  long  since 
have  ceased  to  serve  us  as  draught  animals.  As  it  is,  with 
the  growing  money  value  of  the  laborer's  time,  this  slow- 
moving  creature  is  steadily  and  rather  rapidly  disappearing 
from  our  farms.  This  change,  indeed,  is  one  of  the  most 
indicative  of  all  those  now  occurring  in  our  agriculture.  It 
is  an  excellent  example  of  the  operations  which  the  increase 
in  the  workman's  pay  is  bringing  into  our  civilization. 

The  natural  advantages  of  the  horse   for  the  use  of  man 


THE  HORSE  75 

consisted  in  its  size,  strength,  and  endurance  to  burden  ; 
form  of  the  body,  which  enabled  a  skilful  rider  to  maintain 
his  position  astride  the  trunk  ;  and  the  peculiar  shape  of  the 
mouth  and  disposition  of  the  teeth  which  made  it  possible  to 
use  the  bit.  With  these  direct  physical  advantages  there 
were  others  of  a  physiological  and  psychic  sort,  of  equal 
value.  The  creature  breeds  as  well  under  domestication  as 
in  the  wilderness  ;  the  young  are  fit  for  some  service  in  the 
third  year  of  their  life,  and  are,  at  least  in  the  less  elaborated 
breeds,  in  a  mature  condition  when  they  are  five  years  old. 
Experience  shows  that  the  animal  can  subsist  on  a  great 
variety  of  diet,  being  in  this  regard  surpassed  only  by  its 
humbler  kinsman  the  donkey,  and  by  the  goats.  There  are 
few  fields  so  lean  that  they  will  not  maintain  serviceable 
horses.  They  do  well  alike  in  mountain  pastures  and  amid 
the  herbage  of  the  -  moistest  plainland. 

The  mental  peculiarities  of  the  horse  are  much  less  char- 
acteristic than  its  physical.  It  is  indeed  the  common  opinion, 
among  those  who  do  not  know  the  animal  well,  that  it  is 
endowed  with  much  sagacity,  but  no  experienced  and  careful 
observer  is  likely  to  maintain  this  opinion.  All  such  students 
find  the  intelligence  of  the  horse  to  be  very  limited.  It 
requires  but  little  observation  to  show  that  the  creature 
observes  quickly,  and  in  some  way  classifies  the  objects  with 
which  it  comes  in  contact.  The  fear  aroused  in  it  by 
unknown  things  makes  this  feature  of  attention  to  the  sur- 
rounding world  very  evident.  Almost  all  these  animals 
retain  a  tolerably  distinct  memory  of  the  roads  which  they 
have  traversed,  even  if  they  have  passed  over  them  but  a  few 
times.  The  studies  which  I  have  made  on  this  point  show 
me  that  the  average  horse  will  be  able  to  return  on  a  road 


76 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


which  it  has  traversed  a  few  hours  before,  with  less  risk  of 
blundering  than  an  ordinary  driver.  Some  well-endowed 
animals  can  remember  as  many  as  a  dozen  turnings  in  a  path 
over  which  they  have  journeyed  three  or  four  times.  It 
seems  almost  certain  that  their  guidance  in  these  movements 
is  not  at  all  effected  by  the  sense  of  smell,  but  is  due  to  a 
distinct  memory  of  the  detailed  features  of  the  country. 


Belgian   Fisherman's  Horse 

Good  as  is  the  horse's  memory,  it  is  difficult  to  organize 
its  actions  on  that  basis.  Only  in  rare  cases  and  with  much 
labor  can  he  be  taught  to  execute  movements  that  are  at  all 
complicated.  Fire-engine  horses  may  be  trained  of  their  own 
will  to  step  into  the  position  where  they  are  to  be  attached  to 
the  carriage.  Some  artillery  horses  will,  as  I  have  noticed, 
associate  the  sound  of  the  bugle  with  the  resulting  move- 
ments of  the  guns  and  take  the  appropriate  positions,  where 
they  may  be  out  of  danger  in  the  rapid  swinging  of  the 


THE  HORSE  77 

teams  and  carriages.  It  is  partly  because  of  this  training 
received  by  disciplined  artillery  horses,  that  it  seems  to  many 
experienced  officers  not  worth  while  to  have  militia  com- 
panies in  this  arm,  who  have  to  manoeuvre  with  animals 
untrained  for  the  service.  Although  some  part  of  this  men- 
tal defect  in  the  horse,  causing  its  actions  to  be  widely  con- 
trasted with  those  of  the  dog,  may  be  due  to  a  lack  of  delib- 
erate training  and  to  breeding  with  reference  to  intellectual 
accomplishment,  we  see  by  comparing  the  creature  with  the 
elephant,  which  practically  has  never  been  bred  in  captivity, 
that  the  equine  mind  is,  from  the  point  of  view  of  rationality, 
very  feeble. 

The  emotional  side  of  the  horse's  nature  seems  little  more 
developed  than  its  rational.  Although  they  have  a  certain 
affection  for  the  hand  which  feeds  them,  and  in  a  mild  way 
are  disposed  to  form  friendships  with  other  animals,  they  are 
not  really  affectionate,  and  never,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  find,  show  any  distinct  signs  of  grief  at  separation  from 
their  masters  or  of  pleasure  when  they  return  to  them. 
Although  there  are  many  stories  appearing  to  indicate  a 
certain  faithfulness  in  horses  which  have  remained  beside 
their  fallen  and  wounded  riders,  the  facts  do  not  justify  us 
in  supposing  that  such  actions  are  due  to  the  affection  a  dog 
clearly  feels. 

We  have  been  singularly  led  astray  by  a  chance  use  of 
the  epithet  "horse,"  which  has  come  to  be  applied  to  many 
organic  forms  and  functions  where  strength  is  indicated. 
Thus,  in  the  case  of  plants  we  speak  of  "  horse-radish  "  or 
"horse-mint,"  denoting  thereby  spices  which  have  strong 
qualities.  Horse-chestnut  is  another  instance  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  term  to  plants.  It  chanced  that  "horse-sense" 


78  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

came  to  be  used  to  indicate  a  sound  understanding,  and.  in  an 
obscure  way,  but  in  a  manner  common  with  words,  this  has 
led  to  a  vague  implication  of  mental  capacity  in  the  animals 
whence  the  term  is  derived.  The  fact  is  that  our  horses,  as 
far  as  their  mental  powers  are  concerned,  appear  to  be  the 
least  improvable  of  our  great  domesticated  animals. 


Horses  for  Towing  on  the  Beach  in  Holland 

Little  elastic  as  the  horse  appears  to  be  on  the  psychic 
side  of  its  nature,  in  its  physical  aspects  it  is  one  of  the  most 
plastic  of  all  the  forms  subjected  to  the  breeder's  art.  It 
requires  no  more  than  a  glance  at  the  streets  of  our  large 
cities  to  see  how  great  is  the  range  in  size,  form,  and  carriage 
of  these  animals  which  may  be  found  in  any  of  our  great 
centres  of  civilization.  We  readily  perceive  that  these  varia- 
tions have  a  distinct  relation  to  the  several  divisions  of  human 
activity  in  which  this  creature  has  a  share.  The  massive 


A  Hurdle  Jumper 


THE  HORSE  8 1 

cart-horse,  weighing  it  may  be  as  much  as  eighteen  hundred 
or  two  thousand  pounds,  heavy  limbed,  big  headed,  unwilling 
to  move  at  a  pace  faster  than  a  slow  trot,  yet  not  without 
the  measure  of  beauty  seemingly  inseparable  from  the  spe- 
cies, contrasts  very  markedly  with  the  alert  saddle  animal  bred 
for  speed  and  grace,  and  for  the  easy  movement  which  makes 
it  comfortable  to  the  equestrian.  Between  these  extremes 
we  may  note  minor  differences  which,  though  they  may  not 
strike  those  persons  who  take  only  a  commonplace  view  of 
the  creatures,  are  most  marked  to  the  initiated.  The  trotter, 
the  coach,  horse,  the  strong  but  nimble  animals  which  are 
used  in  fire-engines  and  other  heavy  carriages  which  have  to 
be  swiftly  moved,  mark  the  results  of  breeding  designed 
to  insure  particular  qualities,  and  show  how  readily  the 
physical  features  of  the  animal  can  be  made  to  fit  to  our 
desires. 

Although  from  an  early  day  a  certain  amount  of  care  has 
been  given  to  breeding  horses  for  saddle  purposes,  the  careful 
and  continuous  choice  which  has  led  to  the  modern  variations 
is  a  matter  of  only  a  few  centuries  of  endeavor.  So  far  as  we 
can  judge  from  the  classic  monuments,  the  olden  varieties 
were  mere  varieties  of  the  pony — the  small,  compact,  agile 
creature  which  had  not  departed  far  from  the  parent  wild 
form.  It  seems  to  me  doubtful  whether  any  of  the  horses 
possessed  by  the  Greeks  or  Romans  attained  a  weight  much 
exceeding  a  thousand  pounds,  or  had  the  peculiarities  of  our 
modern  breeds.  The  first  considerable  departure  from  the 
original  type  appears  to  have  been  brought  about  when  it 
became  necessary  to  provide  a  creature  which  could  serve  as 
a  mount  for  the  heavy  armored  knights  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
where  man  and  horse  were  weighted  with  from  one  to  two 


82  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

hundred  pounds  of  metal.  To  serve  this  need  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  a  saddle  animal  of  unusual  strength,  weighing 
about  three-quarters  of  a  ton,  easily  controllable  and  at  once 
fairly  speedy  and  nimble.  To  meet  this  necessity  the  Nor- 
man horse  was  gradually  evolved,  the  form  naturally  taking 
shape  in  that  part  of  Europe  where  the  iron-clad  warrior  was 
most  perfectly  developed.  In  the  tapestries  and  other  illus- 
trative work  of  that  day,  when  the  knight  won  tournaments 
and  battle-fields,  gaining  victory  by  the  weight  and  speed 
which  he  brought  to  bear  upon  his  enemies,  we  can  see  this 
splendid  animal,  in  physical  form,  at  least,  the  finest  product 
of  man's  care  and  skill  in  the  development  of  the  lower 
species. 

With  the  advance  in  the  use  of  firearms  the  value  of  the 
Norman  horse  in  the  art  of  war  rapidly  diminished.  This 
breed,  however,  has,  with  slight  modifications,  survived,  and 
is  extensively  used  for  draught  purposes  where  strength  at 
the  sacrifice  of  speed  is  demanded.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
the  creatures  which  now  draw  the  beer  wagons  of  London 
often  afford  the  nearest  living  successors  in  form  to  the 
horses  which  bore  the  mediaeval  knights.  It  is  an  ignoble 
change,  but  we  must  be  grateful  for  any  accident  which  has 
preserved  to  us,  though  in  a  somewhat  degraded  form,  this 
noblest 'product  of  the  breeder's  art,  which,  even  as  much  as 
the  valor  of  our  ancestors,  won  success  for  our  Teutonic 
folk  in  their  great  struggle  with  Islam.  A  tincture  of  this 
Norman  blood,  perhaps  the  firmest  fixed  in  the  species  of  any 
variety,  pervades  many  other  strains  most  valuable  in  our 
arts.  The  best  of  our  artillery  horses,  particularly  those  set 
next  the  wheels,  are  generally  in  part  Norman.  In  the  well- 
known  American  Morgan,  the  swiftest  and  strongest  of  our 


THE  HORSE  83 

harnessed  forms,  the  observant  eye  detects  indications  of  this 
masterful  blood. 

The  Norman  strains  of  horses  retain  certain  interesting 
indications  of  their  ancient  lineage  and  occupation.  As 
appears  to  be  common  with  old  breeds,  the  stock  is  readily 
maintained.  It  breeds  true  to  its  ancestry,  with  little 
tendency  to  those  aberrations  so  common  in  the  newly 
instituted  varieties.  When  crossed  with  other  strains,  the 
effect  of  the  intermixture  of  this  strong  blood  is  distinctly 
traceable  for  many  generations.  In  their  mental  habits  these 
creatures  still  appear  to  show  something  of  the  effects  of  their 
old  use  in  war  ;  it  is  a  valiant  race,  less  given  to  insane  fear 
than  other  strains,  and,  even  under  excitement,  more  con- 
trollable than  the  most  of  their  kindred.  So  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  learn,  they  seem  singularly  free  from  those  wild 
panics  which  are  so  common  among  our  ordinary  horses.  It 
does  not  seem  to  me  fanciful  to  suppose  that  these  qualities 
were  bred  in  the  stock  during  the  centuries  of  experience 
with  the  confusion  of  battle-fields  and  tournaments. 

The  horse,  in  common  with  the  other  domesticated 
animals  varying  readily  in  the  hands  of  the  breeder,  under- 
goes a  certain  spontaneous  change  which  in  a  way  corre- 
sponds to  the  physiography  of  the  region  in  which  it  is  bred. 
At  first  sight  it  may  seem  as  if  these  alterations  are  due 
to  the  admixture  of  previously  existing  varieties,  or  to  the 
institution  of  peculiarities  by  some  process  of  selection.  I 
am,  however,  well  convinced  that  these  variations  are  in  good 
part  due  to  a  direct  influence  from  the  environment.  Thus 
in  our  high  northern  lands  there  is  a  distinct  and  spontaneous 
reduction  in  size  of  the  creatures,  which  attains  its  farthest 
point  in  the  Shetland  pony.  Again,  as  we  go  toward  the 


84 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


tropics,  a  like  though  less  conspicuous  decrease  in  bulk  is 
observable.  The  largest  animals  of  the  species  develop  in 
the  middle  latitudes,  the  realm  where  the  form  appears  to 
have  acquired  its  characters.  The  speed  with  which  these 
local  variations  are  made  is  often  great.  Thus  the  horses  of 
Kentucky  have,  in  about  a  century,  acquired  a  certain  stamp 
of  the  soil  which  makes  it  possible,  in  most  cases,  for  the 


Exercising  the   Thoroughbreds 

observer  to  identify  an  individual  as  from  that  State,  though 
he  may  find  it  in  a  field  a  thousand  miles  away.  The  defining 
indications  are  not  limited  altogether  to  bodily  form,  but  are 
shown  in  what  might  seem  trifling  features  of  carriage  arid 
behavior.  The  difference  between  the  horses  of  Great 
Britain  and  those  of  the  United  States  seems  to  me,  from 
repeated  observations,  to  be  quite  as  great  as  that  separating 
the  men  of  the  two  realms.  I  believe  that  if  a  lot  of  a 
thousand,  taken  in  equal  parts  from  either  land,  were  put 
together,  a  person  well  accustomed  to  taking  account  of 


THE  HORSE  85 

these  animals  could  separate  them  into  two  herds,  with  less 
than  ten  per  cent,  of  error.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  more  perfect 
selection  could  be  made  if  the  same  experiment  were  tried  on 
an  equal  number  of  men,  provided  the  indices  to  be  derived 
from  peculiarities  of  speech  or  dress  could  be  excluded. 

By  some  the   Arabian  horse   is   thought   to   be   the  most 
remarkable  specialization  of  the  kind  which  has  been  attained. 


8 

* 


In  his  native  country  and  in  his  perfection,  the  Arab  breed 
has  been  seen  by  but  few  persons  who  have  been  specially 
trained  in  noting  the  peculiarities  of  the  animal.  So  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  judge  by  pictures  and  a  few  specimens,  said 
to  be  thoroughbreds  of  their  stock,  which  I  have  had  a  chance 
to  see,  the  Arabian  form  of  the  horse  appears  to  have  been 
led  less  far"  away  from  the  primitive  stock  than  many  of  our 
European  and  American  varieties. 


86 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


The  very  great,  if  not  the  preeminent,  success  of  the  horse 
in  Arabia  is  the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  attained  under  conditions  which,  from  an  a  priori  point 
of  view,  must  be  deemed  most  unfavorable.  This  variety  has 
been  bred  in  a  land  of  scant  herbage  and  deficient  water- 
supply,  where  the  creature  has  had  from  time  to  time,  indeed 
we  may  say  generally,  to  endure  something  of  the  dearth  of 


Arabian    Sports 

food  which  stunts  the  Indian  ponies  and  the  other  horses  of 
the  Cordilleran  district.  The  ancestors  of  the  horse  appear 
to  have  attained  their  development  in  well-watered  and  fertile 
regions.  All  the  varieties  bred  within  the  limits  of  civilization 
do  best  on  rich  pasturages  such  as  Arabia  does  not  afford. 
The  success  of  the  horse  in  that  land  shows  how  devoted 
must  have  been  the  care  which  has  been  given  to  its  nurture. 
Fitting,  as  the  Arabian  horse  does,  exactly  to  the  needs  of 
nomadic  people  engaged  in  almost  constant  warfare,  it  has 


THE  HORSE  87 

naturally  been  a  far  more  important  helper  to  the  wild  folk 
of  the  desert  lands  about  the  eastern  Mediterranean  and  the 
Red  Sea  than  to  any  other  race.  In  those  lands  horses  fell 
into  the  keeping  of  a  very  able  folk.  The  contrast  between 
the  care  devoted  to  the  animals  by  them,  and  that  which 
our  Indians  give  to  their  ponies,  is  a  fair  measure  of  the 
difference  in  the  ability  of  these  very  diverse  races. 

As  a  whole,  the  horse  demands  for  his  best  nurture  and 
keeping  an  amount  of  care  required  by  no  other  animal  which 
has  been  won  to  the  uses  of  man,  unless  perhaps  it  be  the 
silkworm.  Kept  in  its  best  state,  the  horse  has  to  be  sedu- 
lously groomed.  To  be  maintained  in  its  very  best  condition 
some  hours  of  human  labor  must  each  day  be  given  to  keep- 
ing his  skin  in  order.  The  effect  arising  from  a  friction  on 
the  horse's  hide  is  not  confined  to  the  beauty  that  comes 
from  cleanliness,  but  in  a  curious  way  reacts  upon  the  general 
nervous  tone  of  the  animal.  All  those  who  are  familiar  with 
horses  will,  I  think,  agree  with  me  that  much  grooming  dis- 
tinctly increases  the  endurance  and  elasticity  of  their  bodies. 
The  influence  of  the  grooming  process  appears  to  be  some- 
what like  that  obtained  by  massage  and  friction  of  the  skin 
in  the  training  of  an  athlete.  More  than  once  I  have  had 
occasion  to  observe  the  effect  of  this  process  on  some  ancient 
horse  of  good  blood,  which  for  years  had  been  allowed  in  its 
old  age  to  go  uncared  for  as  an  idle  tenant  of  the  pastures. 
Two  or  three  days  of  assiduous  grooming  will  bring  back  the 
strength  and  suppleness  to  the  aged  limbs,  and  restore  some- 
thing of  the  olden  spirit.  The  effect  obtained  from  this  care 
is  the  more  remarkable  for  the  reason  that  nothing  similiar 
to  it  was  experienced  by  the  wild  ancestors  of  these  creatures. 
It  is  as  artificial  as  bathing  in  the  case  of  man.  The  influ- 


88  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

ence  of  the  treatment  shows  how  very  unnatural  is  the  state 
of  our  civilized  horses. 

The  task  of  providing  horses  with  food  is  more  consider- 
able than  in  .the  case  of  any  of  our  other  domesticated  creat- 
ures. By  nature  the  animal  is  a  frequent  feeder,  and  does 
not  well  endure  long  fasts.  Its  stomach  is  rather  small  for 
the  size  of  the  body,  and  the  digestive  process  appears  to  be 
more  than  usually  rapid.  A  mounted  animal,  when  taxed  to 
its  utmost,  should  be  fed  four  or  five  times  a  day,  and  with 
less  than  three  good  meals  is  apt  to  break  down.  No  such 
care  in  the  matter  of  provender  is  necessary  in  the  case  of 
the  other  members  of  man's  animal  family.  The  contrast 
between  the  physiological  conditions  of  the  camel  and  those 
of  the  horse  are  fully  recognized  by  the  Arabs,  in  their  almost 
complete  neglect  of  the  individuals  of  the  one  species  and 
their  exceeding  care  of  the  other. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  element  of  care  which  man  has  had 
to  devote  to  the  horse  is  found  in  the  matter  of  shoeing.  In 
the  state  of  nature  the  admirably  constructed  hoof  sufficiently 
provided  the  animal  against  the  excessive  wearing  of  its 
horny  extremity.  Nature,  however,  rarely  provides  for  more 
strength  and  endurance  than  the  creature  in  its  wild  state 
demands ;  and  so  it  comes  about  that  when  horses  have  to 
bear  burdens  or  draw  carriages,  particularly  on  roadways, 
their  unprotected  feet  will  not  withstand  the  strain  which  is 
put  upon  them,  the.  rate  of  growth  of  the  structure  com- 
posing the  hoof  not  being  sufficiently  rapid  to  make  good 
the  wearing  which  these  unnatural  conditions  impose.  For 
thousands  of  years,  in  the  roadless  stages  of  man's  develop- 
ment, the  difficulties  arising  from  the  wearing  of  the  hoof 
were  not  serious,  for  the  creatures  trod  either  on  turf-covered 


S^     - 


THE  HORS 


plains  or  on  the  soft  ways  of  the  desert.  When  the  advance 
of  culture  made  roads  necessary,  when  carriages  were  invented 
and  something  like  our  modern  conditions  were  instituted,  it 
became  imperatively  necessary  to  provide  additional  protec- 
tion for  the  feet.  We  find  the  Greeks,  in  the  classic  time, 
wrestling  with  this  problem.  Xenophon,  in  his  treatise  on 
the  care  of  horses,  advises  that  they  be  reared  on  stony 
ground,  he  having  observed  that,  in  a  natural  way,  the  hoof 
becomes  somewhat  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  its  condi- 
tions. The  Romans  found  the  difficulty  from  the  tender 
foot  of  the  horse  yet  more  serious  on  their  paved  roads  ;  but 
both  these  classic  people  showed,  in  their  ways  of  dealing 
with  the  difficulty,  that  lack  of  inventive  skill  which  so 
curiously  separates  the  olden  from  the  modern  men.  They 
devised  soles  of  leather  and  bags  as  coverings  for  the  horse's 
feet,  but  none  of  the  contrivances  could  have  been  very 
serviceable.  All  such  coverings  must  have  been  quickly  worn 
out  in  active  use. 

So  far  as  we  can  determine,  it  was  not  until  about  the 
fourth  century  of  our  era  that  the  iron  horseshoe  was' 
invented.  This  valuable  contrivance  appears  to  have  origi- 
nated in  Greek  or  Roman  lands,  probably  in  the  former 
realm,  for  it  first  bore  the  name  of  "  selene,"  from  its  likeness 
to  the  crescent  shape  of  the  new  moon.  Although  simple, 
the  horseshoe  was  a  most  important  invention,  for  it  com- 
pletely reconciled  the  animal  to  the  conditions  of  our  higher 
civilization  by  removing  the  one  hinderance  to  its  general  use 
in  the  work  of  war  and  commerce.  It  is  probable  that  with 
this  invention  began  the  great  task  of  differentiating  the 
several  breeds  of  European  horses  for  their  use  in  various 
employments,  as  draught  animals  for  packing  purposes,  as 


92  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

light  saddle  horses,  and  the  bearing  of  armored  men.  Neither 
the  draught  nor  the  war  horses  of  Europe  could  well  have 
been  specialized  until  their  heavy  bodies  were  separated  from 
the  ground  by  these  metallic  coverings  of  the  hoof. 

Much    has    depended    on    the  specialization  of   the  horse 
into  different   breeds,   made  possible   by   the   iron  shoe.     By 


Syrian   Horse 


reconciling  the  creature  to  uses — agriculture,  which  depends 
on  draught  animals,  and  the  commerce  of  importance,  which 
can  only  be  effected  by  means  of  wagons — the  rapid  economic 
development  of  our  civilization  was  made  possible.  By 
developing  a  horse  capable  of  bearing  an  armored  man, 
Europe  was  brought  into  a  condition  in  which  organized 
armies  took  the  place  of  mere  forays,  and  so  the  development 
of  centralized  states  was  promoted.  In  the  warfare  between 
the  Mohammedans  and  the  Christian  states  of  Europe,  in 


THE  HORSE  93 

the  campaigns  with  the  Turks  and  the  Saracens,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  the  powerful  breeds  of  horses  reared  in  western  and 
northern  Europe  were  a  mighty  element  in  determining  the 
issue  of  the  contest.  The  battles  of  these  momentous  cam- 
paigns represented,  not  only  a  struggle  between  the  Christian 
Aryans  and  the  Semitic  followers  of  Mahomet,  but,  in  quite 
as  great  a  degree,  the  war  was  waged  between  the  light  and 
agile  steeds  of  the  Orient  and  the  massive  and  powerful 
animals  that  bore  the  mail-clad  warriors  of  the  West.  On 
the  field  of  Tours,  when  the  fate  of  Christian  Europe  for 
hours  hung  in  the  balance,  we  may  well  believe  that  the 
strong  and  enduring  horses  of  the  northern  cavalry  did  much 
to  give  victory  to  our  race. 

Along  with  our  general  account  of  the  place  of  the  horse 
in  civilization,  it  is  fit  to  give  something  to  the  story  of  his 
near,  though  inferior,  kinsmen,  the  ass  and  the  mule,  both  of 
which  have  played  a  subordinate,  though  important,  part  in 
the  same  field  of  endeavor  in  which  the  nobler  species  has 
done  so  much  for  man.  The  original  progenitors  of  our 
donkeys  differed  from  the  ancestral  form  of  the  horse  by 
variations  of  good  specific  value.  So  far  as  we  can  determine 
from  visible  features,  these  forms  were  more  distinctly  parted 
than  the  dog  and  the  wolf,  or  either  of  these  animals  from 
the  jackal.  Nevertheless,  these  equine  forms  are  clearly 
closely  akin,  for  they  may  be  bred  together.  Although  the 
original  stock  of  the  ass  may  possibly  have  been  lost,  it  seems 
most  likely  that  the  wild  forms  which  exist  in  Asia  have  not 
wandered  off  from  captivity,  but  are  the  remnants  of  the 
original  wilderness  form. 

It  appears  likely  that  the  two  domesticated  equine  species 
have  been  under  the  care  of  man  for  about  the  same  length 


94  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

of  time ;  but  the  difference  in  their  condition,  and  in  the 
place  which  they  hold  in  civilization,  is  very  great.  As  we 
have  seen,  the  horse  has  been  made  to  vary  in  a  singular 
measure,  its  form  and  other  qualities  changing  to  meet  the 
need  or  fancy  of  its  master.  Its  humbler  kinsman  has 
remained  almost  unchanged.  Except  small  differences  in 
size,  the  donkeys  in  different  parts  of  the  world  are  singularly 
alike.  In  part  this  lack  of  change  may  be  explained  by  the 
relative  neglect  with  which  this  species  has  been  treated. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  breeder  it  has  perhaps  been 
the  least  cared  for  of  any  of  our  completely  domesticated 
animals.  In  some  parts  of  the  world,  as  for  instance  in 
Spain,  where  a  long-continued  effort  has  been  made  to 
develop  the  animal  for  interbreeding  with  the  horse,  the 
result  shows  that  the  form  is  relatively  inelastic.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  conceivable  amount  of  care  would  develop  such 
variations  as  the  horse  now  exhibits. 

The  principal  hinderances  to  the  general  acceptation  of 
the  donkey  as  a  help-meet  to  man  are  found  in  its  small 
size  and  slow  motion.  These  qualities  make  the  creature 
unserviceable  in  active  war  or  in  agriculture,  and  they  seem 
to  be  so  fixed  in  the  blood  that  they  are  not  to  any  extent 
corrigible.  So  long  as  pack  animals  were  in  general  use,  and 
in  those  parts  of  the  world  where  the  conditions  of  culture 
cause  this  method  of  transportation  to  be  retained,  the 
qualities  of  the  donkey  have  proved  and  are  still  found  of 
value.  The  animal  can  carry  a  relatively  heavy  burden, 
being  in  such  tasks,  for  its  weight,  more  efficient  than  the 
horse.  It  is  less  liable  to  stampedes.  It  learns  a  round 
of  duty  much  more  effectively  than  that  creature,  and  can 
subsist  by  browsing  on  coarse  herbage,  where  a  horse 


THE  HORSE  95 

would  be  so  far  weakened  as  to  become  useless.  Thus,  in 
developing  the  mines  in  the  unimproved  wilderness  of  the 
Cordilleras,  where  ores  of  the  precious  metals  have  to  be 
carried  for  considerable  distances,  trains  of  "  burros "  are 
often  employed.  The  animals  quickly  learn  the  nature  of 
their  task,  and  will  do  their  work  with  but  little  guidance 
from  man. 

In  general  we  may  say  that  the  donkeys  belong  to  a 
vanishing  state  of  human  culture,  to  the  time  before  carriage- 
ways existed.  Now  that  civilization  goes  on  wheels,  they 
seem  likely  to  have  an  ever-decreasing  value.  A  century 
ago  they  were  almost  everywhere  in  common  use.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  probably  millions  of  people  in  the 
United  States  to  whom  the  animal  is  known  only  by  descrip- 
tion. In  a  word,  the  creature  marks  a  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment of  our  industries  which  is  passing  away  as  rapidly  as 
that  in  which  the  spinning-wheel  and  the  hand-loom  played 
a  part. 

As  the  use  of  the  ass  in  the  economic  arts  began  to 
decline,  the  mule  or  hybrid  progeny  of  this  creature  and  the 
horse  has  progressively  increased.  Although  the  value  of 
this  mongrel  has  been  known,  particularly  in  southern 
Europe,  from  very  early  days,  its  most  extensive  employment 
has  been  found  in  the  old  slave-holding  States  of  the  Federal 
union.  The  custom  of  using  mules  has  been  almost  unknown 
in  England,  and  has  never  been  generally  adopted  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  United  States.  It  appears  to  have  been 
introduced  into  southern  regions  by  the  Spaniards  and  the 
French,  and  there  to  have  spread,  because  of  the  peculiar 
fitness  of  the  creature  to  the  climate  and  the  employment  it 
had  to  endure  in  that  part  of  America.  The  mule  has  the 


96 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


peculiar  advantage  that  it  is  on  the  average  as  large  as  the 
horse,  is  nearly  as  quick-footed  when  walking,  and  has  at  the 
same  time  a  considerable  share  of  the  patient  endurance  to 
hard  labor  and  scant  fare  which  characterizes  the  donkeys. 
It  matures  somewhat  more  speedily  than  its  nobler  kinsman, 
being  ready  to  meet  severe  strains  perhaps  a  year  earlier. 


Unless  unconscionably  abused,  its  period  of  fitness  for  hard 
work  endures  about  one-third  longer,  often  lasting  for  thirty 
years.  It  is  singularly  exempt  from  disease,  its  sturdy 
frame  withstanding  rude  usage  until  the  old  age  time. 

The  mule  is  especially  interesting  to  the  naturalist  for  the 
reason  that  it  affords  the  only  certain  case  in  which  a  hybrid 
has  proved  decidedly  serviceable  to  man.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  a  similar  mixture  of  the  blood  of  two  species  occurs  in 
our  ordinary  cats,  and  it  may  exist  in  the  case  of  the  dog 


THE  HORSE  97 

and  in  some  of  the  domestic  birds  ;  but  so  far  as  we  know, 
there  has  been  no  other  useful  result  from  the  hybridizing,  if 
it  has  occurred.  Moreover,  the  mule  is  unique  for  the  fact 
that  the  animal  is  distinctly  stronger  for  its  weight,  and  more 
enduring  than  either  species  which  his  blood  combines.  In 
fact,  there  is  no  product  of  man's  industry  in  relation  to 
domesticated  animals  which  is  more  interesting  than  this 
singular  creature.  At  present,  its  use  appears  to  be  going 
out  of  vogue ;  the  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  hybrid  j| 
has  no  place  in  the  affections  of  mankind,  and  that  it  is  only  v 
likely  to  be  kept  in  its  use  in  tropical  countries,  and  partic- 
ularly in  regions  where  the  beasts  have  to  be  under  the  care 
of  slaves  or  other  negligent  folk.  It  is  a  singular  fact  in 
connection  with  this  hybrid,  that  it  is  nearly  absolutely  ' 
sterile,  there  being  only  two  or  three  cases  on  record  in  which 
they  have  proved  fecund.  It  seems,  however,  possible  that  if 
these  rare  instances  of  continued  breeding  were  to  be  duly 
used,  an  intermediate  species  might  be  permanently  estab- 
lished. This  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  important  lines  for 
experiment  which  could  be  undertaken  by  an  institution 
devoted  to  the  study  of  problems  relating  to  domestication. 
It  is  commonly  thought  that  a  mule  is  a  stupider  creature 
than  the  horse  ;  but  I  have  never  found  a  person,  who  was  well 
acquainted  with  both  animals,  who  hesitated  to  place  the 
mongrel  in  the  intellectual  grade  above  the  pure-blood  ani- 
mal. There  is,  it  is  true,  a  decided  difference  in  the  mental 
qualities  of  the  two  creatures.  The  mule  is  relatively  unde- 
monstrative, its  emotions  being  sufficiently  expressed  by  an 
occasional  bray — a  mode  of  utterance  which  he  has  inherited 
from  the  humbler  side  of  his  house  in  a  singularly  unchanged 
way.  Even  in  the  best  humor  it  appears  sullen,  and  lacks 
7 


98  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

those  playful  capers  which  give  such  expression  to  the  well- 
bred  horse,  particularly  in  its  youthful  state.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  it  discriminates  men  and  things  more  clearly 
than  does  the  horse.  In  going  over  difficult  ground  it  studies 
its  surface,  and  picks  its  way  so  as  to  secure  a  footing  in  an 
almost  infallible  manner.  Even  when  loaded  with  a  pack,  it 
will  consider  the  incumbrance  and  not  so  often  try  to  pass 
where  the  burden  will  become  entangled  with  fixed  objects. 

Mules  soon  learn  the  difference  between  those  who  have 
the  care  of  them  and  strangers.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
trouble  awaits  the  wight  who  unwarily  ventures  to  take  from 
the  stall  a  mule  which  has  not  the  advantage  of  his  acquaint- 
ance. On  this  account  they  are  rarely  stolen.  Even  in  the 
daytime  they  are  often  dangerous  for  strangers  to  approach, 
and  the  most  of  the  ill-usage  which  men  receive  from  their 
heels  arises  where  unwitting  people  venture  to  treat  them  as 
they  would  horses.  Mules  are  much  less  liable  to  panic-fear 
than  the  most  of  our  domesticated  animals,  yet,  when  kept  in 
the  herded  way,  they  occasionally  become  stampeded.  Many 
a  soldier  of  our  Civil  War,  where  mules  played  a  large  part  in 
the  campaigns,  doubtless  remembers  the  mad  outbreaks  of 
these  creatures  from  their  corrals,  when  they  went  charging 
through  the  army  with  a  fury  which,  if  directed  against  an 
enemy,  would  have  been  almost  as  effective  as  a  cavalry 
charge. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  mules  have  a  greater  dispo- 
sition to  adopt  a  leader  in  their  movements  than  we  note  in 
either  of  the  species  whence  they  come.  In  the  old  days 
when  mules  were  plentifully  bred  in  Kentucky,  and  taken 
thence  for  sale  to  the  plantation  States,  they  went  forth  in 
droves,  commonly  under  the  leadership  of  a  bell  horse,  or,  by 


THE  HORSE  99 

preference,  a  mare,  which  it  was  quite  the  custom  to  choose 
of  a  white  color.  In  the  course  of  a  few  hours  the  creatures 
would  learn  to  know  their  guide,  and  to  follow  the  leader  with 
so  little  trouble  that  two  men  could  conduct  a  throng  of  sev- 
eral hundred.  Nevertheless,  if  the  foremost  mule  of  the 
procession  turned  aside,  all  the  others  would  blindly  follow 
him  in  the  manner  of  a  flock  of  sheep. 

I  recall  an  amusing  instance  of  this  "follow-my-leader " 
motive  which  occurred  many  years  ago  in  a  way  somewhat 
personal  to  myself,  in  southern  Kentucky.  Engaged  in  sur- 
vey work,  I  was  passing  along  a  quiet  road  when  in  the  dis- 
tance I  heard  a  thunder  of  hoofs,  and  in  a  moment  saw  a 
great  drove  of  mules,  the  appointed  leader  of  which,  a  man  on 
a  white  horse,  had  fallen  to  the  rear  of  the  column.  The 
creatures,  thinking  that  it  was  their  duty  to  overtake  the  miss- 
ing master,  were  going  on  the  full  run.  Heeding  the  shouts 
of  the  troubled  herder,  I  turned  my  wagon  across  the  road, 
which,  being  at  that  point  very  narrow,  was  effectually  barri- 
caded by  the  vehicle.  Although  the  rush  was  so  wild  that  the 
brutes  nearly  overset  my  "  outfit,"  they  were  brought  to  a  full 
stop.  Unhappily,  on  one  side  of  the  road  and  one  hundred 
feet  or  so  from  it,  there  was  a  comfortably  built  southern 
house,  with  a  broad  gallery  extending  along  the  front ;  while 
in  the  door  of  the  mansion  were  some  women  who  had  been 
attracted  by  the  tumult.  No  sooner  had  the  mob  of  mules  been 
brought  to  a  state  of  surging  quiet,  than  one  of  the  creatures 
jumped  the  picket  fence,  and  started  for  the  open  house-door, 
thinking,  perhaps,  that  he  would  find  some  peace  of  life  in 
what  probably  seemed  to  him  his  accustomed  barn.  In  much 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it,  a  hundred  or  more  mules 
were  on  the  gallery,  the  floor  of  which  gave  way  beneath 


100  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

their  weight ;  they  quickly  broke  down  the  columns  which 
supported  the  roof,  so  that  the  whole  structure  at  once 
became  a  heap  of  wood  and  mules.  The  unhappy  proprietor 
of  the  drove,  in  his  consternation,  forgot  even  to  swear — an 
art  which  I  have  never  known  on  any  other  occasion  to  pass 
from  a  mule-driver ;  and,  sitting  on  his  white  horse,  he  lifted 
his  hands  like  an  oriental  in  prayer,  and  said  to  me  meekly, 
"  Did  you  ever  in  all  your  life  ?  "  I  assured  him  that  I  had 
never,  and  went  my  way,  leaving  him  to  settle  an  interesting 
case  of  damages  with  the  owner  of  the  mansion. 

In  considering  the  general  influence  of  the  horse  and  its 
kindred  forms  on  human  culture,  we  clearly  perceive  that  we 
are  now  attaining  a  time  when  the  machinery  of  civilization 
is  to  depend  in  a  much  less  degree  than  of  old  on  the  help 
which  these  creatures  give  to  man.  Even  fifty  years  ago 
the  horse  was  far  more  necessary  to  the  work  of  our  kind 
than  it  is  at  present.  Going  back  a  hundred  years,  we 
perceive  that  the  population  of  the  civilized  world  could  not 
possibly  have  been  maintained,  if  by  some  disease  all  the 
horses  had  been  swept  away.  Such  a  calamity  in  the  year 
1800  would  have  led  to  the  depopulation  of  almost  all  the 
cities  of  the  interior  country,  famine  would  have  ravaged 
our  States,  and  the  whole  economic  system  of  society  would 
have  had  to  be  reconstructed.  Now  the  greater  part  of  the 
work  which  of  old  had  to  be  done  by  horses,  can,  at  a  slight 
increase  of  cost,  be  effected  by  mechanical  engines.  Plough- 
ing, except  on  steep  hillsides  and  in  very  stony  ground,  can 
be  cheaply  and  effectively  done  by  steam.  The  same  agent 
can  propel  the  harvesters  and  work  the  threshing  machines. 
Even  farmers  who  till  fields  of  no  great  extent  find  it 
desirable  to  do  much  of  their  work  by  steam-engines,  for 


THE  HORSE  IOI 

the  reason  that  fuel  is  less  costly  than  horse  feed.  An 
interesting  instance  to  show  how  far  mechanical  inventions 
have  taken  the  place  of  horsed  wagons  in  the  work  of 
civilized  communities  was  afforded  by  the  horse  distemper 
which  swept  over  the  country  in  1872.  During  the  week 
or  more  in  which  this  epidemic  was  at  the  worst,  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  was  practically  unhorsed,  yet  the  greater  part 
of  the  necessary  business,  that  required  to  bring  provisions 
to  the  town,  was  effected  by  means  of  the  railways.  The 
same  incident  shows,  however,  in  another  way,  how  absolutely 
necessary  this  animal  is,  in  certain  parts  of  our  work.  For 
the  great  Boston  fire,  which  occurred  at  that  time,  was 
doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that,  owing  to  the  sickness  of  the 
horses,  an  effort  was  made  to  drag  the  engines  by  hand- 
power,  with  the  result  that  they  came  upon  the  ground  so 
slowly  as  to  give  the  fire  a  chance  to  become  an  uncontrollable 
conflagration. 

In  the  present  state  of  our  arts  there  is  one  great  occupa- 
tion which  we  cannot  conceive  to  be  carried  on  without  the 
services  of  horses.  This  is  war.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say  that  all  our  highly  elaborated  military  system  has 
depended  for  its  development,  as  it  does  for  its  maintenance, 
on  the  transportation  value  of  horses.  Much  has  been  said 
of  late  as  to  the  use  of  bicycles  as  adjuncts  to  armies,  and  in 
a  certain  limited  way  they  will  doubtless  prove  serviceable  in 
future  campaigns  ;  but  no  one  who  has  had  any  experience 
of  military  du'cY,  with  its  work  across  tilled  fields  and 
through  forests,  can  imagine  a  man  on  a  wheel  rendering 
any  very  effective  service  except  under  peculiar  conditions. 
Moreover,  no  ordnance  corps  can  do  its  appointed  work  in 
the  rear  of  a  line  of  battle  without  sending  its  wagons  across 


102  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

country   and   over  ground  which   no  unhorsed  vehicle  could 
traverse. 

The  mark  of  the  old  utility  of  the  animal  in  varied  employ- 
ment is  retained  in  our  use  of  the  term  horse-power  in 
measuring  the  energy  of  engines.  That  gauge  of  strength 
of  old  determined  what  man  could  do  in  the  severest  taxes 
upon  the  forces  at  his  command.  In  attaining  the  point 
where,  owing  to  the  possession  of  horses,  he  could  use  this 
standard,  he  won  a  great  way  beyond  the  station  of  his 
ancestors,  who  had  but  the  strength  of  men  at  their  command. 
Modern  invention,  by  giving  us  heat-engines,  has  made  the 
way  for  an  advance.  In  another  century,  or  even  in  another 
generation,  the  horse  may,  save  for  the  uses  of  war,  be 
confined  to  the  position  of  a  luxury  and  an  ornament. 


THE      FLOCKS     AND      HERDS  :       BEASTS      FOR 
BURDEN,     FOOD,     AND     RAIMENT 

Effect  of  this  Group  of  Animals  on  Man. — First  Subjugations. — Basis  of  Domesticability. 
— Horned  Cattle. — Wool-bearing  Animals. — Sheep  and  Goats. — Camels  :  their  Limi- 
tation.— Elephants  :  Ancient  History  ;  Distribution  ;  Intelligence  ;  Use  in  the  Arts  ; 
Need  of  True  Domestication.  —  Pigs :  their  Peculiar  Economic  Value  ;  Modern 
Varieties  ;  Mental  Qualities. — Relation  of  the  Development  of  Domesticable  Animals 
to  the  Time  of  Man's  Appearance  on  the  Earth. 

IT  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  opportunity  to  go  for- 
ward on  the  paths  of  culture,  at  least  the  chance  to  advance 
any  considerable  distance  beyond  the  estate  of  primitive  men, 
depends  in  a  considerable  measure  upon  what  the  wilderness 
may  offer  in  the  way  of  domesticable  beasts  of  burden. 
Where  such  exist  we  find  that  the  folk  who  dwell  with  them 
in  any  land  are  almost  certain  to  have  made  great  advances. 
Where  the  surrounding  nature,  however  rich,  denies  this 
boon,  we  find  that  men,  however  great  their  natural  abilities 
may  appear  to  be,  exhibit  a  retarded  development.  Thus  in 
North  America,  where  there  was  no  domesticable  beast  of 
burden,  the  Indians,  though  an  able  folk,  remain  savages. 
So,  too,  in  central  and  southern  Africa,  where  the  mammalian 
life,  though  rich,  affords  no  large  forms  which  tolerate  cap- 
tivity, the  people  have  failed  to  attain  any  considerable  cul- 
ture. On  the  other  hand,  in  the  great  continent  of  the  Old 
World,  where  the  horse,  the  ass,  the  buffalo,  the  camel,  and 
the  elephant  existed  in  the  primitive  wilds,  men  rose  swiftly 
toward  the  civilized  station. 


104  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

The  immediate  effect  arising  from  the  possession  of  beasts 
of  burden  is  greatly  to  enlarge  the  scope  and  educative  value 
of  human  labor.  A  primitive  agriculture,  sufficient  to  provide 
for  the  needs  of  a  people,  can  be  carried  on  by  man's  labor 
alone,  though  the  resulting  food-supply  has  generally  to  be 
supplemented  by  the  chase.  Rarely,  if  ever,  are  the  products 
of  the  soil  thus  won  sufficient  in  quantity  to  be  made  the  basis 


Domesticated   Buffaloes   in    Egypt 


of  any  commerce.  Such  conveyance  as  is  necessary  among 
the  people  who  are  served  by  their  own  hands  alone,  has  to 
be  accomplished  by  boat  transportation  or  by  the  backs  of 
men.  The  immediate  effect  of  using  beasts  for  burden  is  the 
(  introduction  of  some  kind  of  plough,  which  spares  the  labor 
of  men  in  delving  the  ground,  and  the  use  of  pack  animals, 
which,  employed  in  the  manner  of  caravans,  greatly  promotes 
the  extension  of  trade.  A  great  range  of  secondary  influ- 
ences is  found  in  the  development  of  the  arts  of  war,  by  which 
people  who  have  become  provided  with  pack  or  saddle  ani- 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS 


105 


mals  are  able  to  prevail  over  their  savage  neighbors,  and  thus 
to  extend  the  realm  of  a  nascent  civilization.  Yet  another 
influence,  arising  from  the  domestication  of  large  beasts, 
arises  from  the  fact  that  these  creatures  are  important  store- 
houses of  food  ;  their  f^sh  spares  men  the  labor  of  the  chase, 
and  so  promotes  those  regularities  of  employment  which  lead 
men  into  civilized  ways  of  life.  In  fact,  by  making  these 
creatures  captive,  men  unintentionally  brought  themselves  out 
of  their  ancient 
savagery.  They 
were  led  into 
systematic  and 
forethoughtful 
courses,  and  thus 
found  a  training 
which  they  could 
in  no  other  way 
have  secured. 

The  first  and 
simplest  use  made 
of  the  animals  from  which  man  derives  strength  appears  to 
have  been  brought  about  by  the  subjugation  of  wild  cattle — 
the  bulls  and  buffaloes.  Several  wild  varieties  of  the  bovine 
tribe  were  originally  widely  disseminated  in  Europe  and 
Asia,  and  these  forms  must  have  been  frequent  objects 
of  chase  by  the  ancient  hunters.  Although  in  their  adult 
state  these  animals  were  doubtless  originally  intractable, 
the  young  were  mild-mannered,  and,  as  we  can  readily 
conceive,  must  often  have  been  led  captive  to  the  abodes 
of  the  primitive  people.  As  is  common  with  all  grega- 
rious animals  which  have  long  acknowledged  the  authority 


Cattle  of  India 


106  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

of  their  natural  herdsmen,  the  dominant  males  of  their  tribe, 
these  creatures  lent  themselves  to  domestication.  Even  the 
first  generation  of  the  captives  reared  by  hand  probably 
showed  a  disposition  to  remain  with  their  masters  ;  and  in  a 
few  generations  this  native  impulse  might  well  have  been  so 
far  developed  that  the  domestic  herd  was  established,  afford- 
ing perhaps  at  first  only  flesh  and  hides,  and  leading  the 
people  who  made  them  captives  to  a  nomadic  life — that  con- 
stant search  for  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new  which  charac- 
terizes people  who  are  supported  by  their  flocks  and  herds. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  kindred  of  the  buffaloes  and 
bisons  differ  exceedingly  in  the  measure  of  their  domesticabil- 
ity.  Thus,  the  ordinary  buffalo  of  Asia,  though  a  dull  brute, 
is  very  subjugable,  even  in  the  literal  sense,  for  he  makes  a 
tolerable  beast  for  the  plough  and  bears  the  yoke  with  due 
patience.  His  African  kinsman,  on  the  other  hand,  is  perhaps 
the  most  unconquerable  of  all  the  large  wild  animals.  The 
late  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  in  answer  to  my  question  as  to  what 
wild  form  was  the  most  to  be  feared  in  combat,  unhesitat- 
ingly answered,  "  The  African  buffalo,  the  bulls  of  which 
charge  home  upon  any  aggressor  with  an  immediate  and 
determined  fury,  which  often  enables  them  to  kill  the  hunter 
after  they  have  been  shot  through  the  brain."  Our  American 
\  bison,  though  a  much  milder-spirited  beast,  seems  also  to  be 
essentially  undomesticable  for  the  reason  that  he  cannot  be 
taught  to  subordinate  his  desires  to  the  will  of  man.  He  can 
readily  be  brought  to  the  point  where  he  will  tolerate  captiv- 
ity ;  but  if,  when  engaged  in  ploughing,  it  occurs  to  him  that 
he  needs  water,  he  will  straightway  go  in  search  of  it,  not  in 
a  vicious,  but  in  a  perfectly  obdurate  manner.  This  quality 
of  mind  appears  to  be  accountable  for  the  failure  of  the  many 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS  107 

experiments  which  have  been  made  to  domesticate  this  inter- 
esting .American  form. 

The  limitations  of  the  domesticating  work,  the  fact  that 
as  between  two  kindred  species  the  one  has  been  chosen  by 
man  and  the  other  left,  indicate  the  truth — which  is  generally 
of  much  importance — that  the  intellectual  qualities  of  animals 
commonly  differ  more  than  their  frames.  This  is  a  part  of  the 
larger  fact  that  with  the  advance  in  organization  the  individu- 
ality, as  regards  the  whole  spiritual  field  in  persons  and  species 
alike,  becomes  greater.  The  culmination  of  the  tendency  is 
seen  in  man,  where,  with  bodies  which  do  not  vary  much,  we 
have  an  almost  infinite  range  in  individual  qualities. 

This  is  perhaps  a  good  place  in  which  to  make  answer  to 
the  suggestion  that  the  domesticability  of  the  animal  species 
is  in  inverse  proportion  to  their  native  courage  and  indepen- 
dence of  mind.  The  reader  will  see  how  fallacious  is  this 
common  notion  if  he  will  consider  the  quality  of  the  supremely 
domesticated  creature,  the  dog.  There  is  probably  no  beast 
which  has  a  larger  share  of  natural  courage  and  of  indepen- 
dent motive.  When  not  under  the  control  of  their  masters, 
they  have  perhaps  as  free  a  contact  with  nature  as  any  creat- 
ure in  the  world  ;  the  same  thing  may  be  said  of  the  elephant, 
which,  next  to  the  dog,  lends  himself  most  obediently  to  the 
requirements  of  the  master.  Owing  to  the  power  of  his  huge 
body  and  to  the  ease  with  which  he  wins  his  food,  he  is  in  his 
native  wilds  the  least  dependent  of  land  animals.  Except 
from  the  assaults  of  man,  he  has  nothing  to  fear ;  yet  when 
enslaved  he  at  once  surrenders  himself  to  his  captors.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  true  gauge  of  domesticability 
is  the  sympathetic  motive,  that  strange  outgoing  spirit  which 
leads  the  mind  to  recognize  the  life  about  it  and  to  accept 


io8 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


that  life  as  a  part  of  its  own.  In  other  words,  the  domestic- 
ability  of  man  is  due  to  his  willingness  to  enter  into  social 
relations  and  rests  on  the  same  foundation  that  supports  his 
intercourse  with  the  lower  animals  he  has  won  to  his  use. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  use  which  was  made  of  beasts 
of  burden,  in  ways  in  which  their  strength  became  useful  to 
man,  was  in  packing  the  tents  and  other  valuables  of  their 
masters  as  they  moved  from  place  to  place.  Even  to  this 
day  in  certain  parts  of  the  world  bulls  and  oxen  serve  for  such 

.  p  u  r  poses. 

In   fact   the 

w«k 

nomadic 
life,  a  fash- 
ion of  so- 
ciety which 
is  enforced 
w  h  e  r eve  r 
people  sub- 
sist from 
their  cattle 
alone,  leads 
inevitably 

to  such  use  of  the  beasts.  In  the  southern  Appalachian 
district  of  this  country  there  remain  traces  of  this  service 
rendered  by  bulls  and  oxen.  These  creatures,  provided  with 
a  kind  of  pack  saddle,  are  occasionally  used  in  conveying  the 
dried  roots  of  the  ginseng,  beeswax,  feathers,  and  the  peltries 
which  are  gathered  by  the  inhabitants  of  remote  districts,  not 
accessible  to  carriages,  to  the  markets  of  the  outer  world. 
All  the  varieties  of  ordinary  cattle  could  be  made  to  serve  as 
burden-carriers,  and  they  doubtless  would  be  continued  to  be 


idian    Bullock  and   Water-Canier 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS 


109 


used  for  saddle  purposes  in  one  way  or  another  but  for  the 
wide  use  of  the  horse,  a  creature  very  much  better  adapted  for 
carrying  weight.  The  cloven  foot  of  the  bulls  and  buffaloes 
gives  a  weakness  to  the  extremities  which  will  quickly  lead  to 
disease  in  case  they  are  forced  to  carry  heavy  loads  such  as 
the  horse  or  ass  may  safely  bear. 

The  help  which  our  bovine  servants  afford  us  by  the 
power  which  they  exert  in  traction,  as  in  drawing  ploughs, 
sleds,  or  wagons, 
appears  to  have 
been  first  rendered 
long  after  their  in- 
troduction to  the 
ways  of  man.  The 
first  of  these  uses 
in  which  the  draw- 
ing strength  of 
these  animals  was 
made  serviceable 
appears  to  have 

been  in  the  work  of  ploughing.  In  primitive  days  and 
with  primitive  tools,  hand  delving  was  a  sore  task.  The 
inventive  genius  who  first  contrived  to  overturn  the  earth 
by  means  of  the  forked  limb  of  a  tree,  shaped  in  the  sem- 
blance of  a  plough  and  drawn  by  oxen,  began  a  great  revo- 
lution in  the  art  of  agriculture.  To  this  unknown  genius 
we  may  award  a  place  among  the  benefactors  of  man- 
kind, quite  as  distinguished  as  that  which  is  occupied  by 
the  equally  unknown  inventors  of  the  arts  of  making  fire 
or  of  smelting  ores.  After  the  experience  with  the  strength 
of  oxen  had  been  won  from  the  work  of  ploughing,  it  was  easy 


Pioughing  in    Syria 


HO  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

to  pass  to  the  other  grades  of  their  employment,  where  they 
were  made  to  draw  carriages. 

Next  after  the  contribution  which  the  kindred  of  the  bulls 
have  made  by  their  strength,  we  must  set  that  which  has  come 
from  their  milk.  Although  this  substance  can  be  obtained  in 
small  quantities  from  several  other  domesticated  animals,  the 
species  of  the  genus  Bos  alone  have  yielded  it  in  sufficient 
quantities  greatly  to  affect  the  development  of  man.  It  is 
difficult  to  measure  the  importance  of  the  addition  to  the  diet, 
both  of  savage  and  civilized  peoples,  which  milk  affords.  It 
is  a  fact  well  known  to  physiologists  that  in  its  simple  form 
this  substance  is  a  complete  food,  capable  when  taken  alone  of 
sustaining  life  and  insuring  a  full  development  of  the  body.  It 
is  indeed  a  natural  contrivance  exactly  adapted  to  afford  those 
materials  which  are  required  for  the  development  and  restora- 
tion of  creatures  essentially  akin  to  our  own  species.  Those 
races  which  avail  themselves  extensively  of  it  in  their  dietary 
are  the  strongest  and  most  enduring  the  world  has  known. 
The  Aryan  folk  are  indeed  characteristically  drinkers  of  milk 
and  users  of  its  products,  cheese  and  butter.  It  may  well  be 
that  their  power  is  in  some  measure  due  to  this  resource. 

In  our  horned  cattle  man  won  to  domestication  creatures 
which  were  admirably  suited  to  promote  his  advancement 
from  savagery  to  civilization.  Indeed,  the  possession  of  these 
animals  appears  to  have  been  a  prime  condition  of  his  ad- 
vancement. With  them,  however,  as  with  the  camel,  there 
came  little  in  the  way  of  those  sympathetic  qualities  which 
have  made  it  possible  for  our  race  to  establish  affectionate 
relations  with  other  captive  forms.  Long  intercourse  with 
man  has,  it  is  true,  somewhat  diminished  the  wildness  of  these 
creatures,  though  the  males  remain  the  most  indomitably  fero- 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS  113 

cious  of  all  our  servants.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the 
bovine  animals  have  but  little  intellectual  capacity,  and  it  has 
in  no  wise  served  the  purposes  of  man  to  develop  such  powers 
of  mind  as  they  have.  We  have  ever  been  given  to  asking 
little  of  them,  save  docility.  This  we  have  in  a  high  measure 
won  with  our  milch  cows,  which  of  all  our  domesticated  creat- 
ures are  perhaps  the  most  absolutely  submissive  ;  the  more 
highly  developed  of  them  being  little  more  than  passive  pro- 
ducers of  milk,  almost  without  a  trace  of  instincts  or  emotions 
except  such  as  pertain  to  reproduction  and  to  feeding.  It  is 
a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  all  the  great  literature  of  anecdote 
concerning  our  domesticated  animals,  there  is  hardly  a  trace 
of  stories  which  tend  to  show  the  existence  of  sagacity  in  our 
common  cattle. 

It  is  evident  that  the  variability  of  our  domesticated 
bovines,  as  far  as  their  bodies  are  concerned,  is  very  great. 
Between  the  ancient  aurochs  and  the  more  highly  cultivated 
of  its  descendants,  the  difference  is  as  great  as  that  which 
separates  any  other  of  our  captive  animals  from  their  wild 
ancestors.  In  size,  shape,  in  flesh-  and  milk-giving  qualities, 
the  departure  from  the  old  form  of  the  wilderness  is  remark- 
able. Moreover,  at  the  present  time  these  diverse  breeds  of 
horned  cattle  are  rapidly  being  multiplied,  the  distinctive 
forms  probably  being  twice  as  numerous  as  they  were  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  The  process  of  selection 
has  led  to  some  very  wide  diversifications  of  the  body.  The 
horns,  which  in  the  wild  state  are  invariably  well  developed, 
and  which  in  the  cattle  of  our  Western  plains  attain  very  great 
size,  have  in  certain  breeds  altogether  disappeared,  and'  in 
their  place  there  sometimes  comes  a  remarkable  crest  of 
bony  matter  which  does  not  project  beyond  the  skin  which 


114  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

covers  the  head.  If  such  differences  occurred  in  the  wild 
state,  they  would  be  regarded  as  separating  the  two  types  of 
animals  widely  from  each  other. 

In  treating  the  wool-bearing  animals  along  with  beasts  of 
burden,  we  make  a  somewhat  fanciful  classification  which  yet 
is  not  quite  without  reason.  By  long  training  man  has 


Egyptian    Sheep 


brought  these  species  to  the  state  where  their  covering  of 
wool  or  hair,  once  a  coating  only  sufficient  to  afford  pro- 
tection from  the  weather,  has  become  a  very  serious  load. 
In  certain  of  our  highly  developed  varieties  the  annual  coat 
is  so  far  increased  that  the  creature  loses  a  large  part  of  its 
bulk  after  the  shearer  has  done  his  work.  Each  year's  fleece 
often  amounts  in  weight  to  eight  to  twelve  pounds,  and  in  its 
lifetime  the  animal  may  yield  a  mass  of  wool  far  exceeding  its 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  115 

weight  of  flesh  and  bones  in  any  time  of  its  life.  When  the 
fleece  is  mature  the  animal  is  often  burdened  with  a  load 
about  as  heavy  in  proportion  to  his  size  as  is  a  horse  by  the 
weight  of  its  rider  and  accoutrements. 

As  a  flesh  producer,  particularly  in  sterile  fields,  sheep  are 
more  valuable  than  our  horned  cattle.  They  mature  more 
rapidly,  attaining  their  adult  size  and  reproducing  their  kind 
in  less  than  two  years,  so  that  in  many  parts  of  the  world  it 
is  possible  to  obtain  a  larger  quantity  of  flesh  from  poor  pas- 
turages with  sheep  than  with  any  other  of  our  domesticated 
animals.  Their  principal  value,  however,  has  been  from  the 
means  they  afforded  whereby  men  in  high  latitudes  have 
obtained  warm  clothing.  Before  the  domestication  of  these 
creatures,  peoples  who  had  to  endure  the  winter  of  high  lati- 
tudes were  forced  to  rely  upon  hides  for  covering — a  form  of 
clothing  which  is  clumsy,  uncleanly,  and  which  the  chase 
could  not  supply  in  any  considerable  quantity.  Owing  to  its 
peculiar  structure,  the  hair  of  the  sheep  makes  the  strongest 
and  warmest  covering,  when  rendered  into  cloth,  which,  has 
ever  been  devised  for  the  use  of  man.  The  value  of  this  con- 
tribution is  directly  related  to  the  conditions  of  climate.  In 
the  intertropical  regions  the  sheep  plays  no  part  of  impor- 
tance. In  high  latitudes  it  is  of  the  utmost  value  to  man. 
No  other  of  our  domesticated  creatures,  except  the  camel,  is 
so  specially  adapted  to  the  needs  which  peculiarities  of  climate 
impose  upon  their  possessors. 

The  relations  of  the  goat  to  mankind  are  in  certain  ways 
peculiar.  The  creature  has  long  been  subjugated,  probably 
having  come  into  the  human  family  before  the  dawn  of  his- 
tory. It  has  been  almost  as  widely  disseminated,  among  bar- 
barian and  civilized  peoples  alike,  as  the  sheep.  It  readily 


n6 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


cleaves  to  the  household,  and  exhibits  much  more  intelligence 
than  the  other  members  of  our  flocks  and  herds.  It  yields 
good  milk,  the  flesh  is  edible,  though  in  the  old  animals  not 


Bedouin   Goat-Herd  —  Palestine 


savory,  and  the  hair  can  be  made  to  vary  in  a  -larger  measure 
than  any  of  our  animals  which  are  shorn.  Yet  this  creature 
has  never  obtained  the  place  in  relation  to  man  to  which  it 
seems  entitled.  Only  here  and  there  is  it  kept  in  consider- 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  1 17 

able  numbers  or  made  the  basis  of  extensive  industries.  The 
reason  for  this  seems  to  be  that  these  animals  cannot  readily 
be  kept  in  flocks  in  the  manner  of  sheep.  They  are  only 
partly  gregarious,  and  tend  to  stray  from  the  owner's  keeping. 
There  seems  reason  also  to  believe  that  they  cannot  easily 
be  made  to  vary  in  other  characteristics  except  their  hairy 
covering  at  the  will  of  the  breeder,  and  so  varieties  cannot  be 
formed,  as  is  the  case  with  sheep,  to  suit  each  peculiarity  of 
soil  and  climate.  Thus  in  Europe,  where  it  would  be  easy  to 
name  a  score  of  distinct  breeds  of  sheep,  each  peculiarly  well 
suited  to  the  conditions  of  the  country  where  it  had  been 
developed,  the  goats  are  singularly  alike.  The  original  stock 
of  these  creatures  appears  to  have  been  adapted  to  feeding 
on  the  scant  herbage  which  develops  in  rocky  and  moun- 
tainous countries.  They  do  not  seem  able  to  make  the  perfect 
use  of  the  resources  of  a  pasture  which  sheep  do.  Thesfe  i 
inherited  peculiarities  in  feeding  enable  them  to  pick  up  a 
subsistence  where  they  may  range  over  a  considerable  ter- 
ritory, even  where  it  seems  to  afford  no  forms  of  food  for  the 
hungriest  animal.  Thus  in  that  part  of  the  city  of  New  York 
known  as  "  Shanty  town,"  goats  may  be  seen  in  fairly  good 
condition,  although  the  sole  source  of  food,  besides  a  few 
stray  weeds,  appears  to  be  the  paste  of  the  paper  advertise- 
ments which  they  pick  from  the  rocks  and  fences. 

Although  goats  appear  to  be  characterized  by  invariable 
bodies,  our  sheep  are,  in  physical  characteristics,  among  the 
most  flexible  of  our  domesticated  animals.  They  may  by 
selection  readily  and  rapidly  be  made  to  vary  as  regards  the 
character  of  their  wool,  the  size  and  proportion  of  their 
muscles,  and  the  quantity  and  placing  of  the  fat.  In  all  these 
features  they  may  be  fairly  blown  to  and  fro  by  the  wind  of 


Il8  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

favor.  Between  the  meagre-bodied  merino,  with  its  skeleton- 
like  frame  and  heavily  wrinkled  skin  bearing  a  vast  burden 
of  long  wool,  and  the  heavy  Hampshire-downs  or  South- 
downs,  there  is  really  an  immense  difference  in  bodily  quality; 
yet  these  variations  represent  only  a  century  or  two  of  care- 
ful experiment  on  the  part  of  the  breeders.  It  seems  not 
improbable  that  in  the  present  state  of  this  developing  art  it 
would  be  possible,  in  a  hundred  years,  to  reverse  the  con- 
ditions of  these  two  varieties. 

Sheep  and  goats,  like  the  other  herbivorous  species  which 
are  the  common  tenants  of  our  fields  and  forests,  belong  to 
the  great  class  of  dull-witted  mammals  in  which  the  intellec- 
tual processes  appear  to  be  almost  altogether  limited  to 
ancient  and  simple  emotions,  such  as  are  inspired  by  fear 
or  hunger.  They  are  characterized  by  little  individuality  of 
mind,  and  although  the  needs  of  men  have  not  led  to  any 
experiment  in  developing  their  wits,  as  in  the  case  of  dogs, 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  afford  much  founda- 
tion for  such  essays.  The  present  rapid  variations  in  the 
physical  characteristics  of  our  sheep  which  are  induced  by  the 
breeder's  skill,  make  it  evident  that  we  are  far  from  having 
attained  the  maximum  profit  from  these  creatures.  The 
goats  also  give  promise,  when  selective  work  is  carefully 
done  upon  them,  of  giving  much  more  than  they  now  afford 
to  the  uses  of  mankind  ;  but  from  neither  of  these  forms  is 
there  reason  to  hope,  at  least  on  our  present  lines  of  experi- 
ment, for  any  considerable  gain  in  the  intellectual  qualities. 

We  have  already  noted  the  fact  that  the  sheep  is  espe- 
cially adapted  to  serve  man  in  high  latitudes,  where  he  has 
to  provide  against  the  winter's  cold.  The  camel  is  an  even 
more  striking  instance  in  which  the  value  of  the  creature 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS 

depends  upon  climatal  peculiarities.  It  is  peculiarly  fitted, 
by  its  ancestral  training  and  development,  for  the  use  of  men 
who  dwell  in  arid  countries.  In  the  olden  days  of  the 
later  Tertiary  epoch,  creatures  akin  to  the  camels  appear  to 
have  been  widely  distributed,  and  were  probably  adapted  to 
considerable  variations  of  environment.  Within  the  time  of 
which  we  know  something  by  history,  these  forms  have  been 


The  Great  Caravan  Road— Central  Asia 

limited  to  the  arid  districts  of  southwestern  Asia  and  northern 
Africa.  It  is  not  certain  that  we  know  the  originally  wild 
form  of  either  of  the  two  species,  the  double-humped  or 
single-humped  camels.  Wild  members  of  each  exist,  but  they 
may  be  the  descendants  of  the  domesticated  forms.  It  seems 
probable  that  long  before  the  building  of  the  Pyramids  the 
people  of  the  deserts  had  learned  how  to  profit  from  the  very 
peculiar  qualities  of  this  strangely  provided  beast,  which  in 
several  distinct  ways  is  singularly  fitted  to  serve  the  needs  of 


120  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

I  man  in  arid  lands.  The  large  and  well-padded  foot  of  this 
creature  is  well  adapted  for  treading  a  surface  unsoftened  by 
vegetation.  Its  peculiar  stomach  enables  it  to  store  water  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  can  go  for  days  without  drink.  In  the 
humps  upon  its  back,  as  in  natural  pack-saddles,  it  may 
harvest  a  share  of  the  nutriment  which  it  obtains  from  occa- 
sional good  pasturages,  the  store  being  laid  away  in  the  form 
of  fat  which  may  return  to  the  blood  when  the  creature  would 
otherwise  starve.  So  important  have  these  peculiarities  been 
found  by  men  who  have  domesticated  the  camel,  that  on  them 
have  rested  many  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  race 
development  in  the  history  of  our  kind.  In  the  territories 
along  the  eastern  and  southern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 

/  and  in  a  large  part  of  southern  and  central  Asia,  the  camel 
has  done  service  to  man  which  elsewhere  has  been  performed 
by  sheep,  cattle,  and  horses.  In  those  parts  of  the  world  the 
share  which  these  domesticated  animals  have  had  in  the 
development  of  man  has  been  relatively  small.  The  camel 
has  given  the  strength  for  burdens,  hair  for  clothing,  and 
often  flesh  to  the  needy  men  of  the  desert. 

Although  long  a  captive,  and  for  ages,  perhaps,  the  most 
serviceable  of  all  the  creatures  which  man  has  won  from  the 
i  wilds,  the  camel  is  still  only  partly  domesticated,  having  never 
acquired  even  the  small  measure  of  affection  for  his  master 
which  we  find  in  the  other  herbivorous  animals  which  have 
been  won  to  the  service  of  man.  The  obedience  which  he 
renders  is  but  a  dull  submission  to  inevitable  toil.  The  intel- 
ligence which  he  shows  is  very  limited,  and,  so  far  as  I  can 
judge  from  the  accounts  of  those  who  have  observed  him, 
there  is  but  little  variation  in  his  mental  qualities.  As  a 
whole,  the  creature  appears  to  be  innately  the  dullest  and 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS 


123 


least  improvable  of  all  our  servitors.  The  fact  is,  this  animal 
belongs  to  an  ancient  and  lowly  type  of  mammals  character- 
ized by  relatively  small  brains,  and  therefore  of  weak  intelli- 
gence ;  but,  for  its  singular  serviceableness  in  drought-ridden 


Camels  Feeding 

countries,  it  would  probably  have  been  hunted  off  the  earth 
by  the  early  men,  as  have  been  many  other  remnants  of  the 
ancient  life. 

It  is  somewhat  characteristic  of  the  older  forms  of  animals, 
those  which  took  shape  in  the  earlier  Tertiary  periods,  that 
they  are  less  variable  than  those  which  acquired  their  char- 
acteristics in  times  nearer  our  own.  It  is  a  fact  well  known 
to  the  students  of  paleontology,  that  species  and  genera 


124  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

* 
which  have  been  long  on   the  earth  are  apt  to  become  in  a 

way  rigid  as  regards  their  qualities  of  body  and  mind.  It  is 
an  interesting  fact  that,  although  the  camel  can  readily  be 
transplanted  to  many  other  parts  of  the  world,  where  the 
physiographic  conditions  are  similar  to  those  of  the  realm 
where  he  has  served  man  so  well,  he  has  never  been  thor- 
oughly successful  except  in  the  regions  where  he  has  been 
in  use  for  ages.  In  the  desert  regions  of  the  Cordilleras  of 
America,  in  South  Africa,  and  in  Australia,  various  experi- 
ments go  to  show  that  the  creature  could  be  perfectly  recon- 
ciled to  its  environment.  Many  years  ago  a  lot  of  camels 
were  brought  to  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  with  a  view  to 
their  utilization  in  that  region,  which  closely  resembles  the 
desert  countries  about  the  Mediterranean.  These  animals  were 
thoroughly  successful  in  meeting  the  climatal  conditions  of 
the  region.  They  proved  as  strong  and  as  fertile  as  in  their 
natural  realms.  Although  it  is  said  they  survive  to  the  present 
day,  they  have  never  been  of  any  service  to  the  people. 

Although,  as  before  noted,  the  camel  has  a  certain  value 
for  other  purposes  than  conveying  burdens,  these  subsidiary 
uses  are  so  far  limited  that  the  creature  is  not  likely  to  retain 
a  place  in  the  world  after  his  service  in  caravans  is  no  longer 
called  for.  The  rapid  recivilization  of  northern  Africa,  lead- 
ing as  it  does  to  the  development  of  a  railway  system  in  that 
region,  promises  to  displace  this  creature  from  his  most  trod- 
den ways.  It  seems  likely  that  the  other  portions  of  the 
desert  lands  in  the  old  world  will  soon  be  brought  under  the 
same  civilizing  influences,  the  nomadic  tribes  reduced  to  a 
stationary  habit  of  life,  and  the  commerce  effected  in  the 
modern  manner.  When  this  change  is  brought  about,  this 
old-time  animal,  which  but  for  the  care  of  man  would  have 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS 


127 


probably  long  since  passed  away,  will  be  likely,  save  so  far 
as  it  may  be  preserved  through  motives  of  scientific  interest, 
to  join  the  great  array  of  vanished  species. 

It  affords  a  pleasant  contrast  to  turn  from  the  consid- 
eration of  the  camels  to  a  study  of  the  elephants.  The 
difference  in  the  measure  of  attractiveness  of  the  two  forms 
is  very  great,  and  depends  upon  facts  of  remarkable  interest. 


Camels  along  the   Sea  at  Twilight 


Unlike  the  camel — which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  last  survivor 
of  an  ancient  lineage,  represented  by  but  two  species,  and 
these  limited  to  a  small  part  of  the  world — the  elephant,  at 
the  time  when  man  appears  to  have  taken  shape,  seems  to 
have  existed  on  all  the  continental  lands  except  Australia, 
and  to  have  been  in  a  state  of  singular  prosperity.  As  is 
often  the  case  with  other  vigorous  genera  of  mammals,  the 
species  were  adapted  to  a  very  great  variety  of  climates,  and 
were  fitted  to  endure  tropic  heat  as  well  as  arctic  cold. 
The  group  of  elephants  is  first  known  to  us  in  the  early 


128  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

part  of  Tertiary  time.  From  its  first  appearance  on  our  stage 
it  seems  to  have  been  successful  in  a  high  measure,  and  this 
probably  by  reason  of  its  possession  of  the  remarkable  inven- 
tion of  the  trunk — a  prolonged  and  marvellously  flexible  nose 
which  serves  in  the  manner  of  an  arm  and  hand  for  gathering 
food. 

When  we  first  find  traces  of  mankind  in  the  records  of  the 
rocks,  in  what  appears  to  be  an  age  just  anterior  to  the  Glacial 
epoch,  the  elephant  had  passed  the  experimental  stages  of  its 
development  and  was  firmly  established  as  the  king  of  beasts. 
In  his  adult  form  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  any  of  the  lower 
animals,  and  by  the  organization  of  herds  it  is  probable  that 
even  the  young  were  tolerably  safe  from  assault.  Until  the 
early  races  of  men  had  attained  a  considerable  skill  in  the  use 
of  weapons,  the  great  beasts  were  probably  safe  from  human 
attack.  We  may  well  believe  that  primitive  savages  shunned 
them  as  unconquerable.  As  early,  perhaps,  as  the  closing 
stages  of  the  Glacial  epoch  in  Europe,  we  find  evidences 
which  pretty  clearly  show  that  the  folk  of  that  land,  probably 
belonging  to  some  race  other  than  our  own,  had  attained  a 
state  of  the  warlike  arts  in  which  they  could  venture  to  hunt 
this  creature. 

The  species  of  elephant  which  was  hunted  by  the  early 
men  of  Europe,  and  perhaps  also  by  those  in  Asia  and  Amer- 
ica as  well,  was  a  greater  and,  at  least  in  appearance,  a  more 
formidable  monster  than  the  living  species  of  Asia  or  Africa. 
He  was  on  the  average  taller  and  probably  bulkier  than  any 
of  his  living  kindred.  The  tusks  were  large  and  curved  in  a 
curious  scimitar  form.  Adding  to  the  might  of  its  aspect  was 
a  vast  covering  of  hair,  which  on  the  neck  appears  to  have 
had  the  form  of  a  mane.  This  covering  must  have  greatly 


THE  FLOCKS  AND   HERDS  129 

increased  the  apparent  size  of  the  creature,  which  no  doubt 
appeared  about  twice  as  large  as  any  of  our  modern  elephants 
which  are  nearly  hairless.  Although  the  perils  of  this  ancient 
chase  must  have  been  great,  the  triumphs  were  equally  so,  and 
to  a  people  who  lived  by  hunting,  most  profitable  ;  a  single 
animal  would  furnish  more  food  than  scores  of  the  lesser 
beasts  such  as  the  reindeer. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  ancient  northern  elephant  con- 
tinued in  existence  in  North  America  down  to  the  time  when 
this  continent  was  inhabited  by  man.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  the  very  ancient  human  beings,  whose  remains 
are  preserved  to  us  beneath  the  lava  streams  of  California, 
dwelt  on  the  continent  along  with  the  mammoth.  In  excava- 
tions which  I  have  made  at  Big  Bone  Lick  in  Kentucky, 
where  a  group  of  saline  springs  emerges  at  the  bottom  of  a 
valley,  there  were  disclosed  a  very  great  number  of  skeletons 
of  this  great  elephant,  commingled  with  the  bones  of  one  or 
two  smaller  forms  of  the  related  genus,  the  mastodon.  At  a 
slightly  higher  level  was  the  multitude  of  remains  belonging 
to  an  extinct  species  of  bison  which  came  just  before  our 
so-called  buffalo,  while  near  the  surface  of  the  ground  was 
found  the  waste  of  the  creatures  which  were  in  the  field  when 
it  was  first  seen  by  the  white  men.  A  very  careful  search 
failed  to  reveal  any  trace  of  man  until  the  uppermost  level  was 
attained.  The  facts,  which  cannot  well  be  discussed  here, 
have  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  only  a  few  thousand  years 
can  have  elapsed  since  the  mammoth  and  the  mastodon  plen- 
tifully abounded  in  North  America  ;  but  I  am  forced  to  doubt 
whether  our  savages  were  here  in  time  to  make  acquaintance 
with  these  animals. 

It  is  not  certain  that  the  extermination  of  the  great  north- 
9 


130  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

ern  elephant  or  mammoth  even  in  the  Old  World  came  about 
through  the  action  of  man.  It  is  possible  that  the  death  was 
due  to  more  natural  causes,  such  as  the  change  of  climate 
which  attended  the  decline  of  the  Glacial  period,  or  to  the 
attacks  of  some  insect  enemy  like  the  tsetze  fly  of  South 
Africa,  which  occasionally  brings  destruction  to  cattle  in  that 
part  of  the  world.  On  the  whole,  however,  it  seems  most 
probable  that  the  extermination  of  this  noble  beast  is  to  be 
accounted  among  the  brutal  triumphs  of  mankind,  perhaps  as 
the  first  of  the  long  tale  of  destructions  which  he  has  inflicted 
upon  his  fellow-creatures.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  clear 
that  at  the  dawn  of  civilization  the  species  of  the  genus 
elephas  had  become  limited  to  that  part  of  the  African  conti- 
nent which  lies  south  of  the  Sahara,  and  to  the  portion  of 
Asia  east  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  south  of  China.  The  rem- 
nant consisted  of  two  species  :  the  African  form,  on  the  aver- 
age the  larger  of  the  two,  a  fierce  and  scarcely  domesticable 
creature  ;  and  the  Asiatic,  a  milder-natured  species  which  alone 
has  been  to  any  extent  brought  into  the  service  of  man. 

It  is  not  certain  when  or  where  elephants  were  first  reduced 
to  domestication.  In  the  dawn  of  history  we  find  them  used 
to  enhance  the  state  of  princes  and  for  the  purposes  of  war. 
It  seems  possible  that  in  this  early  day  the  African  as  well  as 
the  Asiatic  species  was  tamed,  at  least  to  the  point  where 
they  could  be  made  to  serve  in  battle.  We  can  hardly 
believe  that  all  these  animals  which  were  at  the  command  of 
Hannibal  and  the  other  generals  of  North  Africa,  came  from 
the  Asiatic  realm.  The  fact  that  in  modern  times  the  species 
which  dwells  south  of  the  Sahara  has  not  been  turned  to  the 
uses  of  man,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  lowly  estate  of  the 
native  people  in  that  part  of  the  world,  and  the  lack  of  need 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  131 

« 

for  such  creatures  in  the  economic  conditions  of  the  Aryan 
folk  who  have  settled  along  the  shores  and  in  the  southern 
part  of  that  continent. 

The  relations  of  man  to  the  elephant  are  more  peculiar 
than  those  which  he  has  formed  with  any  other  domesticated 
animal.  Although  the  creature  will  breed  in  captivity,  its 
reproduction  in  that  state  is  exceptional,  and  it  is  many  years 
before  the  offspring  are  fit  for  any  service.  It  is  indeed  about 
thirty  years  before  the  creature  is  sufficiently  adult  to  attain 
a  good  measure  of  strength  and  endurance.  It  has  therefore 
been  the  habit  of  the  people  who  avail  themselves  of  this 
admirable  beast  to  use  the  captures  which  they  make  in  the 
wilderness.  It  is  a  most  interesting  and  exceptional  fact  that 
these  captive  elephants,  though  bred  in  perfect  freedom  and 
provided  with  none  of  those  inherited  instincts  so  essentially 
a  part  of  the  value  of  our  other  domesticated  quadrupeds, 
become  helpful  to  man  and  attached  to  him  in  a  way  which  is 
characteristic  of  none  other  of  our  ancient  companions  except 
the  dog.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  Asiatic  elephant  is  the 
most  innately  domesticable,  and  the  best  fitted  by  nature  for 
companionship  with  man,  of  all  our  great  quadrupeds.  The 
qualities  of  mind  which  in  our  other  domesticated  quadrupeds 
have  been  slowly  developed  by  thousands  of  years  of  selection 
and  intercourse  with  our  kind,  are  in  this  creature  a  part  of  its 
wild  estate. 

It  appears  from  trustworthy  anecdotes  that  the  Asiatic 
elephants  in  a  few  months  of  captivity  acquire  the  rules  of 
conduct  which  it  is  necessary  to  impose  upon  them.  The 
speediness  of  this  intellectual  subjugation  maybe  judged  from 
the  fact  that,  after  a  short  term  of  domestication,  they  will 
take  a  willing  and  intelligent  part  in  capturing  their  kindred 


132  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

of  the  wilderness,  showing  in  this  work  little  or  no  disposition 
to  rejoin  the  wild  herds.  In  the  case  of  no  other  animal  do 
we  find  anything  like  such  an  immediate  adhesion  to  the  ways 
of  civilization.  We  have  to  account  for  this  eminent  peculi- 
arity of  the  elephant  on  the  supposition,  which  appears  to  be 
thoroughly  justified,  that  the  creature  has,  even  in  its  wild 
state,  a  type  of  intelligence  and  instincts  more  nearly  like 
those  of  men  than  is  the  case  with  any  other  wild  mammal,  an 
affinity  with  human  quality  which  is,  perhaps,  only  approached 
by  certain  species  of  birds.  It  appears  from  the  observations 
of  naturalists  that  the  family  or  tribe  of  wild  elephants  is  a 
distinct  and  highly  sympathetic  community.  The  grade  and 
value  of  the  friendly  feeling  which  prevails  among  them  may 
be  judged  by  the  fact  that,  when  one  of  the  males  becomes 
lost  or  is  driven  away  from  its  associates,  it  does  not  seem  to 
be  able  to  join  any  other  tribe,  but  becomes  a  "  rogue/'  or 
solitary  individual,  and  in  this  state  develops  a  morose  and 
furious  temper. 

There  are  many  well-attested  stories  which  serve  to  show 
that  wild  elephants  have  a  kind  of  intelligence  which  indicates 
a  certain  constructive  capacity.  Of  these,  perhaps  the  best 
are  the  instances  in  which  the  creatures  have  been  caught  in 
pitfalls,  made  by  digging  a  hole  in  the  paths  of  the  wilderness 
which  they  are  accustomed  to  follow,  the  surface  being  cov- 
ered with  a  frail  platform  so  arranged  as  to  conceal  the  exca- 
vation. When  one  of  a  tribe  is  caught  in  the  trap,  the  others, 
if  time  allows  before  the  hunters  come  to  the  ground,  will  in 
an  ingenious  way  release  him.  I  doubt  if  the  most  practicable 
manner  of  effecting  this  will  occur  at  once  to  the  reader.  The 
easiest  plan  may  seem  to  drag  the  captive  from  the  pit  by 
sheer  strength,  but  as  the  hole  is  deep  and  has  vertical  sides, 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  133 

the  elephants  contrive  a  better  way.  They  bring  bits  of 
timber,  which  they  throw  into  the  pitfall,  the  captive  treads 
them  down  until  he  is  elevated  to  a  position  whence  he  can 
escape  from  his  prison. 

The  intelligence  of  the  wild  elephant  is  probably  in  good 
part  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  creature  possesses 
in  its  trunk  an  instrument  which  is  admirably  contrived  to  exe- 
cute the  behests  of  an  intelligent  will.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  see 
how,  in  the  case  of  man,  the  hands  have  served  to  develop  the 
intelligence  by  providing  him  with  means  whereby  he  could 
do  a  great  variety  of  things  which  demanded  thought  and 
afforded  education.  The  elephant  is  the  only  large  mammal 
which  has  ever  acquired  a  serviceable  addition  to  the  body 
such  as  the  trunk  affords.  In  their  ordinary  life  the  trunk 
does  almost  as  varied  work  as  the  human  arm.  With  it  they 
can  express  emotions  in  a  remarkable  way  ;  they  caress  their 
young,  gather  their  food  by  a  great  variety  of  movements,  or 
defend  themselves  from  assailants.  To  the  naturalist  who 
has  come  to  perceive  the  close  relations  between  bodily  struct- 
ure and  mental  endowments,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that 
these  creatures  have  attained  a  quality  of  mind  which  is 
found  nowhere  else  among  the  mammals  except  in  man  and 
in  some  of  his  kindred,  the  apes. 

The  most  peculiar  mental  quality  of  the  elephant,  a  feature 
which  separates  him  even  from  the  dog,  is  the  rational  way 
in  which  he  will  do  certain  kinds  of  mechanical  work.  He 
appears  to  have  an  immediate  sense  as  to  the  effects  of  his 
actions,  which  we  find  elsewhere  only  among  human  beings. 
From  a  great  body  of  well-attested  observations,  showing 
what  may  be  called  the  logical  quality  of  the  mind  of  these 
creatures,!  may  be  allowed  to  select  a  few  stories  which  have 


134 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


a  singular  denotative  value.  An  acquaintance  of  mine,  a 
British  officer  who  had  served  long  in  India,  told  me  that  in 
taking  artillery  over  very  difficult  roads,  certain  of  the  abler 
elephants  could  be  trusted  to  walk  behind  each  piece,  where 


An   Indian   Elephant 

they  would  in  a  fashion  control  its  movements,*  steady  ing  or 
lifting  it  as  the  occasion  demanded  without  any  directions 
from  the  driver. 

Elephants  can  be  trained  to  pile  up  sticks  of  timber,  such 
as  railway  ties,  placing  the  layers  alternately  in  opposite 
directions,  as  is  the  custom  in  such  work.  There  is  an  excel- 
lent and  well-attested  story  of  an  elephant  who,  without  a 
driver,  was  bearing  a  stick  of  timber  through  a  narrow  wood 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  135 

path.  Meeting  a  man  on  horseback,  and  perceiving  that  the 
way  was  not  wide  enough  for  both  himself  and  the  oncomer, 
the  sagacious  animal  deliberately  backed  his  huge  body  into 
the  chaparral  so  as  to  clear  the  way,  and  then  trumpeted  as  if 
to  signal  the  horseman  that  the  path  was  free. 

The  emotions  as  well  as  the  intelligence  of  elephants  are 
singularly  like  those  of  human  kind.  It  is  said  by  those  who 
know  them  well  that  if  when  in  their  stubborn  fits  they  are 
brutally  overborne,  they  are  apt  to  die  of  what  seems  to  be 
pure  chagrin.  Their  states  of  grief,  despair,  and  rage  much 
resemble  those  which  are  exhibited  by  violent  children  or  men 
unaccustomed  to  control.  Their  affections  and  animosities 
have  also  a  curious* human  cast.  They  readily  form  attach- 
ments which  appear  to  be  quite  as  enduring  as  those  exhib- 
ited by  dogs,  and  their  memory  of  injuries  remains  quick  for 
years  after  they  have  received  the  harm.  Well-verified  anec- 
dotes showing  the  likeness  of  these  emotional  qualities  to 
our  own  exist  in  such  numbers  that  it  would  be  easy  to  fill 
a  volume  with  them.  They  are,  however,  not  necessary  to 
show  the  likeness  of  the  creature  to  ourselves.  This  is  suffi- 
ciently exhibited  by  their  daily  behavior  under  domestication. 
In  noting  this  we  should  remember  that  the  male  elephant  is 
the  only  large  mammal  the  males  of  which  it  has  proved  safe 
to  use  in  the  ordinary  work  of  life.  Even  our  bulls  and  stall- 
ions, though  they  belong  to  species  which  have  been  domesti- 
cated for  thousands  of  years,  are  so  violent  and  untrustworthy 
as  to  be  of  little  value  except  for  breeding  purposes.  Bulls, 
even  of  the  tamer  breeds,  are  a  constant  menace  to  the  lives 
of  their  masters  ;  yet  an  adult  male  elephant  recently  made 
captive  may,  except  when  seriously  diseased,  be  trusted  to 
obey  the  mere  signals  of  the  driver,  who  has  no  such  control 


I36  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

over  him  as  the  bit  affords  in  the  case  of  horses.  The  creat- 
ure has  the  strength  to  overcome  all  control  save  that  of  a 
moral  nature.  To  this  he  submits  in  a  way  which  is  only 
equalled  by  our  well-bred  dogs. 

As  yet  the  utility  of  the  elephant  to  man  has,  measured  by 
his  qualities,  been  but  small.  The  creature  has  a  marvellous 
strength,  great  intelligence,  and  remarkable  docility.  In  pro- 
portion to  the  power  which  he  can  apply  to  a  task,  he  is  not 
an  expensive  animal  to  maintain.  He  can  endure  a  consider- 
able range  of  climate,  and  enjoys  a  tolerable  immunity  from 
disease.  The  reason  for  the  relatively  inconsiderable  use  of 
these  creatures  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  not  adapted  for  ordinary  draught  purposes,  nor  are  they 
well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  caravan,  for  which  the  camel 
or  the  pack-mule  is  much  better  fitted.  In  ancient  warfare, 
before  the  invention  of  gunpowder,  elephants  carrying  archers 
or  javelin-men  upon  their  backs  were  greatly  valued  for  the 
effect  of  their  charge  against  an  enemy  and  for  the  fright  with 
which  they  inspired  horses.  Against  the  unsteady  ranks  of 
Oriental  armies  they  were  often  most  efficient  in  breaking 
a  line  of  battle.  Even  the  Roman  troops,  when  they  first 
encountered  them  and  before  they  knew  how  to  meet  their 
charges,  found  them  very  formidable.  It  was  soon  learned 
that  if  their  onset  was  stoutly  resisted,  they  were  likely  to 
become  unmanageable  in  the  uproar  of  the  fight,  and  to  do 
as  much  damage  to  friends  as  to  foes.  It  is  only  in  certain 
peculiar  tasks  that,  in  modern  days,  the  elephants  have  any 
economic  value,  and  in  the  most  of  this  work  their  strength 
is  likely  to  be  replaced  by  various  engines. 

The  two  existing  species  of  elephants  are,  as  before  re- 
marked, the  survivors  of  a  long  lineage,  represented  in  the 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  137 

geological  record  by  the  remains  of  many  extinct  forms. 
Some  of  these  lost  species  were  far  smaller  than  those  of 
to-day  ;  one  at  least  was  no  larger  than  our  heavier  horses. 
If  by  the  breeder's  art  the  existing  varieties  could  be  caused 
so  to  change  as  to  give  us  once  again  this  relatively  diminu- 
tive form,  the  creature  would  be  sure  to  find  a  place  of  im- 
portance in  our  ordinary  arts.  The  trouble  is  that  the  very 
long  life  of  this  animal  is  naturally  associated  with  a  slow; 
growth.  It  requires  indeed  almost  the  lifetime  of  a  genera- 
tion to  bring  the  individual  to  an  adult  age.  It  is  therefore 
not  surprising  that,  as  the  wild  forms  can  readily  be  won  to 
domestication,  these  creatures  have  not  been  the  subject  of 
any  of  those  interesting  processes  of  selection  which  have 
so  far  affected  for  the  better  the  characteristics  of  nearly 
all  the  other  domesticated  animals. 

In  every  other  regard  than  those  mentioned  above,  the 
elephant  appears  to  be  an  excellent  subject  for  improvement 
by  choice  in  breeding.  The  individuals  vary  much  as  regards 
their  physical  and  mental  qualities.  Probably  no  other  wild 
mammal  exhibits  such  differences  in  the  mental  features  as 
does  this  highly  intellectual  creature.  The  physical  individu- 
ality does  not  seem  to  be  as  striking  as  the  mental,  but  even 
here  we  note  a  range,  at  least  as  regards  size,  which  is  un- 
usual in  the  wild  forms  bred  under  similar  conditions.  The 
general  elasticity  of  the  group  is  shown  by  the  considerable 
differences  which  may  be  traced  in  the  herds  which  occupy 
different  parts  of  the  field  over  which  the  species  range.  As 
yet  these  local  peculiarities  have  not  been  carefully  studied  ; 
but  from  an  examination  of  the  tusks  in  the  ivory  warehouse 
at  the  docks  in  London,  I  have  found  that  those  shipped  from 
particular  ports  in  Africa  and  Asia  differed  both  in  form  and 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

texture,  so  that  the  experts  were  able  to  tell  from  which  dis- 
trict they  came.  The  evidence,  in  a  word,  appears  to  show 
that  the  creature  tends  to  vary  ;  and  it  is  a  safe  presumption 
that  the  forms  would  prove  as  responsive  to  the  breeder's  art 
as  those  of  our  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  or  dogs. 

As  a  whole,  the  elephant  has  been  almost  as  little  associ- 
ated with  the  life  of  our  own  race  as  the  camel.  Neither  of 
these  creatures  has  ever  played  any  considerable  part  in 
European  affairs.  From  the  disappearance  of  the  last  of  the 
mammoths  in  the  closing  stages  of  the  Glacial  time  until  the 
invasions  of  Italy  by  Pyrrhus  and  by  Hannibal,  elephants 
were  practically  unknown  in  Western  Europe.  They  have 
never  been  used  in  peaceful  occupations  on  that  continent, 
and  have  had  only  a  trifling  place  in  its  military  arts.  It  was 
probably  due  to  this  separation  of  our  eminently  experimental 
race  from  the  realm  of  the  elephants  that  no  efforts  have 
been  made  systematically  to  breed  them  in  captivity,  and 
thus  to  win  varieties  in  which  the  form  might  become  better 
adapted  to  economic  needs,  and  the  remarkable  mental 
powers  of  the  creature  be  brought  to  their  utmost  develop- 
ment. As  yet  the  only  Europeans  who  have  had  much  to  do 
with  elephants  are  the  British,  who  in  their  civil  and  military 
service  in  India  have  been  thrown  in  contact  with  these  ani- 
mals. Generally,  however,  these  people  have  been  only  tem- 
porarily domiciled  in  Asia,  and  probably  on  this  account  have 
not  become  interested  in  the  problems  which  this  noble  beast 
presents  to  all  those  who  appreciate  the  animal  world.  We 
lack,  indeed,  the  observations  which  might  have  been  made 
with  admirable  effect  by  British  observers  in  India  during 
the  two  centuries  in  which  that  people  has  had  to  do  with 
the  lands  in  which  elephants  abound. 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  139 

The  elephant  of  Africa  is  still  a  tolerably  abundant  animal. 
Its  numbers,  though  doubtless  diminished  by  more  than  one- 
half  within  this  century,  are  probably  to  be  counted  by  the 
hundred  thousand.  Nevertheless,  in  less  than  a  hundred 
years  the  field  which  they  occupied  has  been  greatly  reduced  ; 
and  between  the  ivory  hunter  and  the  sportsman  of  our 
brutal  race  armed  with  guns  of  ever-increasing  deadliness,  it 
will  certainly  not  require  another  century  of  free  shooting  to 
annihilate  the  African  species.  In  view  of  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  life  of  these  noble  beasts,  it  seems  in  a  high 
measure  desirable  that  a  thorough-going  effort  should  be 
made  to  extend  the  domestication  to  the  point  where  the 
form  will  not  only  be  won  from  the  wilds,  but  will  be  a 
permanent  element  in  our  civilization,  in  the  manner  of  our 
common  flocks  and  herds.  It  will  be  an  enduring  shame  if, 
by  neglect  of  our  opportunities,  the  utmost  is  not  done  to 
attain  this  end.  It  appears  fit  that  this  task  should  be  under- 
taken by  the  British  Government,  which  in  modern  days  has 
displayed  a  skill  and  forethought  in  the  administration  of 
its  Indian-  provinces  unexampled  in  the  history  of  colonies. 
Owing  to  the  slow  breeding-rate  of  the  elephant,  it  may 
require  more  than  a  century  for  experiments  to  attain  any 
definite  result,  so  that  the  task  is  clearly  beyond  the  limits  of 
individual  endeavor. 

Among  the  humbler  helpers  of  man,  the  pig  holds  an  \ 
important  place.  He  has  had  no  small  share  in  the  better- 
ment of  the  estate  of  his  masters.  One  of  the  large  questions 
which  beset  men  in  their  unconscious  endeavors  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  civilization  was  that  of  food-supply.  No 
sooner  does  a  population  become  sedentary  than  the  wilder- 
nesses about  its  dwelling-place  are  rapidly  cleared  of  the  large 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

game,  so  that  the  chase  affords  but  little  save  amusement. 
Therefore  a  provision  in  the  way  of  meat  has  to  be  obtained 
from  domesticated  animals.  The  flocks  and  herds  supply  this 
need,  though  in  a  costly  way.  Sheep  have  a  value  for  their 
wool ;  horned  cattle  develop  slowly,  and  are,  moreover  valu- 
able, the  oxen  for  their  strength  and  the  cows  for  their  milk. 
Horses  are  too  valuable  to  be  used  for  food,  save  in  times  of 

^     exceeding  stress ;  and  none  but  the  lowest  savages  are  willing 

to  send  their  faithful  dogs  to  the  pot.      From  the  beginning 

of  his  experience  with  man  the  pig  has  been  found  the  cheap- 

i    est  and  most  serviceable  domesticated  animal  as  a  source  of 

food-supply. 

We  can  trace  the  origin  of  our  domesticated  pigs  more 
clearly  than  in  the  case  of  the  most  of  the  other  subjugated 
animals.  The  creature  is  evidently  descended  from  the  wild 
x  boar  of  Europe  and  Asia  ;  and  though  long  under  domestica- 
tion and  greatly  varied  from  its  primitive  stock,  it  readily 
reverts  to  something  like  its  original  form  when  allowed  to 
betake  itself  once  more  to  the  wilds.  The  domestication  of 
the  species  appears  to  have  been  accomplished  at  several 
different  points  in  Asia  and  Europe.  The  forms  which  are 
found  in  eastern  Asia  differ  from  those  which  are  kept  in  the 
western  portion  of  the  great  continent,  and  may  have  their 
blood  commingled  with  that  of  another  species  which  is  native 
in  that  part  of  the  world. 

Among  our  domesticated  animals  the  pig  is  exceptional  in 

^  the  fact  that  it  has  been  bred  for  its  flesh  alone  ;  for  although 
the  hide  is  valuable  and  the  hair  serves  certain  purposes,  as  in 
the  manufacture  of  brushes,  these  uses  are  onjy  incidental  and 
modern.  They  have  not  affected  the  plan  of  the  breeder, 

|    whose  aim  has  been  to  produce  the  largest  weight  of  flesh  in 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  141 

the  shortest  time,  and  with  the  least  expenditure  of  food.  In 
this  peculiar  task  the  success  has  been  remarkable,  the  creat- 
ure having  been  made  to  vary  from  its  primitive  condition 
in  an  extraordinary  manner.  In  its  wild  state  the  species  \ 
develops  slowly,  requiring,  perhaps,  three  or  four  years  to 
attain  its  maximum  size.  It  never  becomes  very  fat,  but  re- 
mains an  agile,  swift-footed,  and  fierce  tenant  of  the  wilds. 
Under  the  conditions  of  subjugation  the  pig  has  been  brought 
to  a  state  in  which  its  qualities  of  mind  and  body  have  under- 
gone a  very  great  change.  In  the  more  developed  breeds, 
even  the  males,  when  kept  about  the  barnyard,  are  quiet- 
natured  and  not  at  all  dangerous.  The  creatures  have  become 
slow-moving  ;  they  attain  their  full  development  in  about  half  \ 
the  time  required  for  the  growth  of  their  wild  kindred,  and 
when  adult  they  may  outweigh  them  in  the  ratio  of  four  ' 
to  one. 

The  effect  arising  from  the  food-supply  which  our  pigs 
afford  is  well  seen  in  the  use  which  is  made  of  their  flesh  in 
all  the  ruder  work  of  men,  at  least  in  the  case  of  those  of  our 
race.  Our  soldiers  and  sailors  are  to  a  great  extent  fed  on 
the  flesh  of  these  creatures,  which  lends  itself  readily  to  pres- 
ervation by  the  use  of  salt.  So  rapidly  can  these  animals  be 
bred,  owing  to  the  number  of  young  which  they  produce  in  a  \\ 
litter  and  the  swiftness  of  their  growth,  that  sudden  demands 
for  an  increase  in  the  supply,  such  as  occurred  at  the  out- 
break of  our  civil  war,  can  quickly  be  met.  If  the  need  should 
arise,  the  quantity  of  pork  produced  in  this  country  could 
readily  be  doubled  within  eighteen  months.  This  is  the  case 
with  no  other  source  of  flesh-supply,  and  this  fact  gives  the 
pig  a  peculiar  importance. 

Owing  to  the  remarkably  complete  domestication  of  this 


142  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

animal,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  it  is  omnivorous,  the  creature 
has  ever  been  a  favorite  with  the  cotter  class.  Those  folk, 
who  can  afford  neither  sheep  nor  horned  cattle,  can  often  pro- 
vide  the  food  for  pigs,  and  thus,  in  turn,  be  much  better  fed 
than  they  would  otherwise  be. 

It  is  only  within  two  centuries  that  our  pigs  have  attained 
to  anything  like  the  domestication  in  which  we  commonly  find 
them.  Of  old  they  were  allowed  to  range  the  forests,  much 
as1  they  do  in  certain  parts  of  our  Southern  States  at  the 
present  day.  In  some  parts  of  Europe,  particularly  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  continent,  this  method  of  rearing  and 
feeding  is  still  common.  It  was  and  is  advantageous,  for  the 
reason  that  the  creature,  by  its  remarkably  keen  sense  of 
smelling  and  its  singular  capacity  for  overturning  the  ground, 
is  able  to  provide  itself  with  abundant  food  in  the  way  of 
grubs  and  roots  which  are  not  at  the  disposition  of  any  other 
animal.  It  was  only  as  the  public  forests  disappeared  that 
pigs  came  to  receive  any  considerable  part  of  their  provender 
from  the  products  of  tilled  fields.  In  this  stage  of  our  agricul- 
ture, when  all  the  land  was  possessed,  the  life  of  the  pig  was 
necessarily  more  restricted,  and  he  became  the  denizen  of  a 
pen,  In  the  earlier  state  there  was  no  cost  for  his  keeping; 
in  the  latter,  except  so  far  as  he  could  be  fed  from  the  waste 
of  a  household,  he  is  an  expensive  animal. 

It  is  with  this  last  state  of  the  pig,  when  he  became  the 
most  housed  of  our  domesticated  animals,  that  the  work  of  the 
breeder  really  began.  The  aim  of  those  who  have  developed 
the  pig  has  been,  as  we  have  said,  to  obtain  the  most  rapid 
growth  along  with  the  greatest  weight  of  fat,  and  to  accom- 
plish the  results  with  the  least  expenditure  in  the  way  of  food. 
Although  the  animal  has  been  subjected  to  selective  experi- 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  143 

ments,  looking  to  these  ends,  for  not  more  than  a  century, 
or  say  about  forty  generations  of  the  species,  the  amount  of 
variation  which  has  been  attained  is  singularly  great,  the  form 
and  habits  having  been  changed  more  rapidly,  and  in  a  larger 
measure,  than  in  the  case  of  any  other  of  our  domesticated 
animals.  It  may  fairly  be  said  that  this  creature  is  more  obe- 
dient to  the  will  of  the  practical  selectionist  than  any  other 
with  which  we  have  experimented. 

It  is  commonly  assumed  that  our  pigs  are  among  the  least 
intelligent  of  the  creatures  which  man  has  turned  to  his  use. 
This  impression  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  conditions  in  which 
these  animals  are  kept  insure  their  degradation  by  cutting 
them  off  from  all  the  natural  mental  training  which  wild  ani- 
mals, as  well  as  the  other  tenants  of  the  fields,  receive.  In  the 
state  of  nature  or  in  the  condition  of  domestication  which 
existed  before  pigs  became  captives  in  their  pens,  they  were 
among  the  most  alert  and  sagacious  animals  with  which  man 
has  come  in  contact.  Their  wits  were  quick  and  their  sympa- 
thies with  their  kind  remarkably  strong.  Trainers  have  found 
these  creatures  more  apt  in  receiving  instruction  than  any 
other  of  our  mammals,  and  the  things  which  they  can  be 
made  to  do  appear  to  indicate  a  native  intelligence  nearer 
to  that  of  man  than  is  found  in  any  other  species  below  the 
level  of  the  apes. 

As  there  is  ^ little  in  the  books  of  anecdotes  of  animals 
concerning  pigs,  I  venture  to  give  an  account  of  a  learned 
individual  of  this  species  whose  performances  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  in  much  detail.  The  creature,  an  ordi- 
nary specimen  about  three  years  old,  had  been  trained  by  a 
peasant  in  the  mountain  district  of  Virginia  who  made  his 
living  by  instructing  animals  for  show  purposes.  He  stated 


*44  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

that  in  selecting  pigs  for  education  it  was  his  practice  to 
choose  those  characterized  by  a  considerable  width  between 
the  eyes  and  whose  skulls  projected  in  this  part  of  their 
periphery  to  a  more  than  usual  degree.  He  said  that  from 
many  experiments  he  was  satisfied  that  there  was  a  very  great 
difference  in  the  capacity  of  the  animals  to  receive  training, 
and  that  the  above-mentioned  indices  afforded  him  sufficient 
guidance  in  his  choice. 

In  the  exhibition  about  to  be  described  there  were  but 
three  persons  present,  myself,  another  spectator,  and  the 
showman.  A  score  of  cards  were  placed  upon  the  ground, 
each  bearing  a  numeral  or  the  name  of  some  distinguished 
person.  These  cards  were  in  perfect  disorder.  I  was 
allowed,  indeed,  repeatedly  to  change  their  position  and  to 
mix  them  up  as  I  pleased.  The  pig  was  then  told  to  pick  out 
the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  bring  it  to  his  master. 
This  he  readily  did.  He  was  asked  in  what  year  Lincoln 
was  assassinated.  He  slowly  but  without  correction  brought 
one  by  one  the  appropriate  numerals  and  put  them  on  the 
ground  in  due  order.  Half  a  dozen  other  questions  concern- 
ing names  and  dates  were  answered  in  a  similar  way.  Each 
success  was  rewarded  with  a  grain  of  corn,  and  for  his  failures 
the  creature  received  a  reasonable  drubbing.  It  was  evident 
that  the  animal  had  to  consider  in  making  his  choice  of  the 
cards.  At  times  he  was  evidently  much  puzzled  and  would 
indicate  his  perplexity  by  squealing. 

It  seemed  clear  that  the  master  of  this  learned  pig  did  not 
guide  the  movements  of  the  animal  by  other  indications  than 
words.  The  questions,  in  some  cases,  had  to  be  reiterated  in 
a  loud  voice  in  order  to  insure  attention.  Several  times  dur- 
ing the  performance  the  pig  rebelled,  broke  from  the  tent, 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  145 

and  was  with  difficulty  recaptured.  The  creature  disliked 
this  task  in  the  manner  of  a  lazy  school-boy,  and  at  the  end 
of  an  hour  of  exercises  seemed  utterly  overcome  by  his  labor. 
He  ran  into  the  box  where  he  was  ordinarily  confined,  and 
when  dragged  forth,  neither  rewards  nor  punishments  would 
quicken  him  to  further  work. 

The  above-described  exhibition  made  it  plain  to  me  that 
the  pig  can  be  taught  to  understand  a  certain  amount  of 
human  speech  and  to  associate  memories  with  phrases  sub- 
stantially as  we  do  ourselves.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  the 
performance  which  I  witnessed  was  not  a  mere  routine  action, 
for  I  had  a  number  of  questions  asked  over  again  so  as  to 
make  it  sure  that  the  creature  acted  with  reference  to  each 
separate  inquiry.  The  behavior  of  the  animal  during  the 
performance  seemed  clearly  to  indicate  mental  effort  and  not 
mere  automatic  memory.  His  attitude  when  trying  to  deter- 
mine which  of  two  cards  to  take  distinctly  showed  that  he  was 
intently  viewing  the  figures  and  endeavoring  to  come  to  a 
decision.  I  am  aware  it  has  been  suggested  that  learned  pigs 
discriminate  between  the  cards  by  peculiarities  of  odor  which 
have  been  given  to  these  bits  of  paper.  I  sought  carefully 
to  find  if  such  was  the  case,  and  though  I  have  a  very  keen 
sense  of  smell  I  found  nothing  which  led  me  to  suspect  that 
this  device  was  used.  Even  if  such  were  the  case,  the  ration- 
ality of  the  animal's  action  would  be  none  the  less  clear. 
The  showman  assured  me  that  he  never  used  any  such 
means  in  training  pigs.  He  seemed,  indeed,  to  treat  the 
suggestion  with  contempt. 

Although  experiments  in  the  training  of  pigs  show  that 
they  have  rather  remarkable  intellectual  capacities,  the  most 
human  feature  in  their  mental  organization  is  found  in  the 


10 


146  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

keen  sympathy  which  they  exhibit  with  the  sufferings  of  their 
own  kind  and  the  willingness  with  which  they  encounter  dan- 
ger in  protecting  their  comrades.  It  usually  requires  close 
observation  for  the  naturalist  to  determine  the  existence  of 
this  motive  among  the  other  wild  or  domesticated  mammals. 
In  fact,  the  traces  of  it  are  very  slight  indeed,  and  are  gener- 
ally to  be  attributed  to  the  care  of  parents  for  offspring  or  of 
the  males  for  their  harem — a  disposition  which,  though  akin  to 
the  defence  of  the  kind,  is  nevertheless  of  a  special  and 
peculiar  nature.  Even  among  our  domestic  dogs,  whose 
sympathies  have  been  developed  in  a  remarkable  degree  and 
who  will  sacrifice  their  lives  to  defend  or  rescue  the  human 
beings  with  whom  they  are  familiar,  there  appears  to  be  but 
little  disposition  to  support  members  of  their  species  who 
may  be  assailed.  With  pigs,  however,  as  is  well  known  to 
all  those  who  have  observed  their  habits,  the  characteristic 
cry  of  distress  of  their  fellows  proves  very  exciting  and  stim- 
ulates all  the  adults,  both  male  and  female,  who  hear  it  to 
hasten  in  defence  of  their  kinsmen.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact 
that  while  most  other  animals  when  in  danger  utter  no  dis- 
tinct or  continuous  cry,  the  pig  gives  voice  in  a  vociferous 
and  insistent  manner,  as  if  he  had  a  right  to  expect  the 
sympathy  and  help  of  his  species.  The  cry  goes  with  the 
custom  of  defence  which  in  this  species  has  attained  a  bet- 
ter foundation  in  the  sympathetic  motives  than  in  any  other 
mammal  below  the  level  of  man. 

It  is  perhaps  due  to  their  relatively  high  intellectual 
organization  that  the  excessively  domesticated  pigs  are 
liable  to  suffer  from  attacks  of  mania.  This  is  most  com- 
monly exhibited  by  the  sows,  which  at  times  will  destroy 
their  young  shortly  after  they  are  born.  The  sight  of  their 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  147 

progeny  seems  to  infuriate  them  in  a  curious  manner.  One 
sow  which  I  owned  killed  three  successive  litters  ;  another  fine 
animal  of  the  Berkshire  breed,  a  very  amiable,  indeed  affec- 
tionate, creature,  was  carefully  watched  at  the  time  she  first 
bore  young,  precautions  being  taken  to  prevent  her  from 
harming  them ;  she  would  willingly  allow  them  to  suckle, 
provided  she  did  not  see  them,  but  the  moment  she  laid  her 
eyes  upon  them  she  was  seized  with  the  strange  fury. 

Although  this  singular  perversion  of  the  natural  instincts 
of  maternity  sometimes  occurs  among  the  pigs  which  are 
allowed  to  roam  together  in  herds,  it  seems  to  be  far  more 
common  in  those  conditions  where  the  animals  are  confined 
in  pens  without  contact  with  their  kind,  and  where  they  have 
no  chance  to  recognize  the  young  as  members  of  their  species 
or  to  acquire  that  interest  in  them  which  they  would  gain  in 
the  society  of  the  herd.  It  is  also  clear  that  this  maniacal 
habit  is  inherited  ;  according  to  my  observation  it  is  common 
among  the  Berkshire,  and  relatively  rare  in  other  less  special- 
ized varieties. 

The  intelligence  of  the  pig  is  also  shown  in  the  readiness 
with  which  the  creature  changes  its  habits  to  meet  varied 
environments.  Thus  the  pigs  which  range  the  woods  in  the 
western  and  southern  parts  of  the  United  States  have  learned 
to  catch  the  crawfish  which  abounds  in  the  shallow  streams  in 
those  parts  of  this  country.  They  will  wade  up  a  brook, 
turning  over  the  stones  and  driftwood  as  they  go,  catching 
with  a  quick  movement  the  crustaceans  which  they  have  thus 
dislodged  from  their  cover.  Along  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  the  pigs,  accustomed  to  follow  the  tide  out,  picking 
the  chance  food  which  is  thus  exposed  to  them,  have  learned 
carefully  to  avoid  the  risk  of  being  caught  by  the  returning 


148  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

waters.  With  the  first  splash  of  the  turning  tide  they  hasten 
inshore  until  they  have  attained  safe  ground. 

One  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  mental  state  of  these 
animals  is  found  in  their  actions  when  assailed  by  dogs  or 
other  beasts  of  prey.  Pigs,  though  wary  and  sensible  of 
danger,  seern  exempt  from  the  extreme  fear  which  leads  to 
panic,  and  fight,  even  before  being  brought  to  bay  by  long 
chasing,  in  a  discreet  and  valiant  manner.  Where  a  number 
of  them  are  attacked  by  dogs  or  other  enemies,  they  will 
form  a  circle  with  their  heads  out,  each  supporting  the  other 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  ring  cannot  readily  be  broken. 
Their  thick-skinned  forequarters  and  stout  tusks  provide 
them  with  excellent  instruments  with  which  to  resist  an 
assault. 

The  sagacity  of  the  pigs  is  probably,  in  part  at  least,  to  be 
attributed  to  the  fact  that  in  their  native  state  they  are  com- 
munal animals,  all  the  species  of  their  family  being  accus- 
tomed to  live  gregariously,  so  that  for  ages  they  have  had 
the  training  which  every  social  organization,  however  simple, 
affords.  They  are,  moreover,  omnivorous  feeders,  accus- 
tomed to  subsist  on  a  great  variety  of  food — a  habit  which 
seems  in  all  cases  to  promote  the  development  of  the  intel- 
ligence in  animals. 

Although  the  pigs  by  their  nature  afforded  the  best  oppor- 
tunity for  developing  an  intellectual  animal  which  has  come 
to  us  through  our  domesticated  creatures,  no  effort  whatever 
has  been  made  by  selection  to  develop  the  latent  mental 
capacities  of  this  species.  It  is  perhaps  the  only  form  of 
those  which  man  has  subjugated  which  by  his  treatment  he 
tends  to  degrade.  In  the  time  to  come,  when  men  will  be 
held  to  a  better  accountability  for  the  treatment  of  their 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  149 

captives,  the  condition  of  these  animals  will  afford  a  fair  field 
for  the  reformer's  care. 

The  geologist  who  is  acquainted  with  the  mammalian  life 
of  the  Middle  Tertiary  period  readily  notes  the  fact  that  the 
variety  in  genera  and  species  appears  to  be  much  greater 
than  it  is  at  the  present  time.  A  great  number  of  forms, 
differing  somewhat  widely  from  those  now  in  existence,  then 
abounded  in  the  Americas  and  the  Old  World.  It  may 
at  first  sight  seem  unfortunate  that  man  did  not  have  the 
chance  to  essay  his  domesticative  arts  on  that  older  and 
apparently  richer  life.  A  closer  examination,  however,  leads 
us  to  see  that  the  species  of  that  time,  though  more  numerous 
than  those  of  the  present,  were  on  the  whole  less  fitted  for 
our  use  than  the  fewer  but  more  completely  differentiated 
kinds  with  which  we  have  had  to  deal.  The  multitude  of 
kinds  which  we  find  in  the  Mesozoic  period  indicates  that  the 
life  was  in  a  state  more  experimental  than  that  to  which  it  has 
attained.  A  host  of  forms  on  their  way  towards  the  speciali- 
zation which  has  now  been  attained  have  been  removed  from 
the  sphere,  in  the  manner  of  a  scaffolding  from  a  completed 
structure.  That  which  has  been  left  remains  because  it  has 
successfully  accomplished  the  task  of  reconciliation  with  envi- 
ronment, or,  in  simpler  phrase,  because  it  has  learned  to  do 
things  which  were  useful  and  profitable  in  a  more  perfect 
manner. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  animals  of  to-day 
are  better  fitted  to  be  the  help-meets  of  man  than  were  their 
ancestors  of  an  earlier  time,  we  may  note  the  state  of  the 
horse  at  the  time  when  that  genus  was  undergoing  its  devel- 
opment in  the  region  about  the  upper  waters  of  the  Missouri. 
As  may  be  imagined,  the  long  and  difficult  passage  from  the 


150  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

five-toed  to  the  single-toed  form  was  slowly  accomplished,  and 
to  its  doing  went  a  great  many  temporary  forms,  which  served, 
we  may  say,  as  stepping-stones  for  the  ongoing.  So  far  as 
we  can  judge,  these  intermediate  forms  were  small,  rather  frail 
creatures,  which  probably  could  not  have  been  made  to  serve 
any  purpose  useful  to  man.  It  was  not  until  the  mechanical 
system  of  the  large  single  toe  with  the  wonderfully  developed 
nail,  which  makes  up  the  foot  and  hoof  of  the  horse,  had  been 
attained,  that  the  creature  becomes  fit  for  the  wonderful  work 
we  have  persuaded  him  to  do  in  our  civilization. 

A  comparison  of  the  skulls  of  the  Tertiary  mammals 
and  those  of  our  own  day  indicates  that  in  certain  of  the 
important  series,  and  presumably  in  them  all,  the  brain  has 
increased  in  size  from  the  earlier  to  the  later  times.  This 
increase  in  brain  capacity  has  doubtless  been  attended  by  a 
decided  gain  in  the  measure  of  intelligence,  a  gain  which  has 
doubtless  served  to  make  the  modern  representatives  of  the 
series  fitter  for  man's  use  than  their  ancestors  were.  For,  while 
the  number  of  our  very  useful  domesticated  forms  may  seem 
at  first  sight  to  be  dull  of  wit,  none  of  them  are  really  low  in 
the  intellectual  scale  as  we  apply  it  to  the  brute  ;  in  fact,  a 
considerable  measure  of  intelligence  is  absolutely  required  as 
a  condition  for  true  subjugation.  This  is  seen  by  the  fact 
that  nothing  like  a  real  adoption  into  our  social  system  has 
ever  been  accomplished  except  with  a  few  of  the  higher  orders 
of  mammals  and  birds,  species  which  have  an  intellectual 
capacity  that  we  recognize  as  akin  to  our  own.  Thus,  so  far 
as  we  can  see,  man's  appearance  on  this  stage  was,  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  the  possibility  of  companionship  with  the  lower 
life,  exceedingly  well  timed.  He  came  at  a  period  when  the 
life  was  ready  to  give  him  and  to  receive  from  him  a  large 


THE  FLOCKS  AND  HERDS  151 

measure  of  help.  If  his  advent  had  been  much  earlier,  he 
might  have  had  less  trouble  in  his  contests  with  the  larger 
carnivora ;  but  if  there  had  been  a  lack  of  beasts  to  obey  his 
will,  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could  himself  have  won  his  way 
above  that  primitive  life. 


DOMESTICATED    BIRDS 

Domestication  of  Animals  mainly  accomplished  by  the  Aryan  Race  ;  Small  Amount  of  Such 
Work  by  American  Indians. — Barnyard  Fowl :  Mental  Qualities  ;  Habits  of  Combat. 
— Peacocks :  their  Limited  Domestication. — Turkeys  :  their  Origin  ;  tending  to 
revert  to  the  Savage  State. — Water  Fowl :  Limited  Number  of  Species  domesticated  ; 
Intellectual  Qualities  of  this  Group. — The  Pigeon  :  Origin  and  History  of  Group  ; 
Marvels  of  Breeding. — Song  Birds. — Hawks  and  Hawking. — Sympathetic  Motive  of 
Birds  :  their  ^Esthetic  Sense  ;  their  Capacity  for  Enjoyment. 

IT  is  an  interesting  fact  that  about  all  the  work  of  domes- 
tication which  has  been  done  by  man  has  been  accomplished 
by  the  peoples  of  Asia  and  mainly  by  the  Aryan  race.  The 
American  Indians  tamed  the  llama  and  alpaca  and  a  few 
species  of  native  plants  ;  even  where  their  habits  were  pre- 
vailingly sedentary  they  domesticated  no  birds.  It  was  left 
for  Europeans  to  make  use  of  the  wild  turkey.  Our  primitive 
people  had  the  same  chance  to  tame  ducks  and  geese  as  the 
folk  of  the  Old  World.  They  appear,  however,  to  have  lacked 
all  capacity  for  such  endeavors.  The  same  lack  of  disposition 
to  capture  and  tame  wild  creatures  is  noticeable  among  the 
characteristic  peoples  of  Africa  ;  all  of  which  serves  to  show 
that  the  domesticating  art,  at  least  as  applied  to  animals,  is 
peculiar  to  the  higher-grade  folk  of  the  Old  World. 

Of  all  the  birds  which  have  been  domesticated,  our  com- 
mon barnyard  fowl  has  been  by  far  the  most  useful  to  man. 
It  has  become  in  a  way  interwoven  with  his  life  to  a  degree 
found  only  in  a  few  of  our  barnyard  animals.  Next  after  the 
pigeons  and  the  pigs  it  has  been  most  deeply  impressed  by 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS 


153 


the  breeder's  art.     The   wild   species   whence   it  sprang  is  a 

small   creature,  laying  but    few  eggs    and  with    but   a  slight 

tendency  to  accumulate  fat.     From  this  parent  stock  varieties 

have  been   bred  which  attain  in  some  cases  to  eight  or  ten 

times  the  weight  of  the  ancient  form.     They  have,  moreover, 

lost    the    fierce    combative    spirit    which     characterizes    their 

ancestors  and  which   by  selection  has  been 

preserved   and   intensified  in  our  breeds  of 

\     game-cocks. 


The  Original  Jungle  Fowl   (Callus  bankiiia)  and  Some  of  His  Domestic   Descendants 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  our  barnyard  fowl  is  the  only 
species  of  a  large  family  of  birds  which  has  been  truly  domes- 
ticated. The  kindred  pheasants  and  grouse,  though  abound- 
ing in  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  and  much  disposed  to 
abide  about  the  cultivated  fields,  appear  to  be  rather  untam- 
able. However  well  cared  for,  the  wilderness  motive  seems 
never  to  have  been  eradicated.  The  domesticability  of  the 
cock,  as  is  that  of  most  other  wild  animals,  is  doubtless  to  be 
explained  by  the  conditions  of  the  life  in  which  it  has  dwelt 
for  ages  before  it  was  introduced  to  the  society  of  man.  In  its 


154  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

wild  state  this  bird  had  already  to  a  great  extent  lost  the 
power  of  flight,  using  its  wings  only  for  escaping  from  four- 
footed  pursuers  or  to  attain  the  branches  of  the  trees  in  which 
it  sought  safety  in  the  night  time.  With  this  measure  of  loss 
of  the  flying  power,  the  creature  abandoned  the  habit  of  rang- 
ing over  a  wide  field,  and  thus  was  made  more  fit  for  domes- 
tication. Moreover,  in  their  wilderness  life  these  birds  dwelt 
in  more  established  communities  than  their  kindred  species. 
The  most  of  these  wild  forms  do  not  keep  together  through 
the  year,  but  scatter  after  the  young  are  able  to  shift  for 
themselves.  The  Indian  species  of  Gallus,  however,  from 
'  which  our  cocks  and  hens  descend,  have  organized  their  life 
so  that  the  individuals  remain  associate  in  a  friendly  way 
throughout  the  year. 

A  part  of  the  fitness  of  this  creature  to  cast  in  its  lot  with 
man  arises  from  the  fact  that  they  have  very  sympathetic 
natures.  This  is  shown  by  the  way  in  which  the  cocks  will 
fight  for  their  hens,  even  against  their  dreaded  enemies,  the 
hawks  ;  and  by  the  manner  in  which  the  mother,  overcoming 
her  natural  fears,  will  do  battle  for  her  brood.  It  is  shown 
also  in  the  curious  mingling  of  gallantry  and  kindliness  with 
which  the  cock  will  call  a  hen  to  give  her  some  choice  bit  of 
food  which  he  has  captured.  As  he  grows  older  and  becomes 
Philistinish,  we  may  note  that,  after  the  manner  of  unfeath- 
ered  bipeds,  he  is  often  disposed  to  indulge  his  selfishness, 
and  summons  his  flock  only  to  see  him  devour  the  morsel. 
Even  in  old  age,  however,  the  males  of  the  varieties  which 
are  nearest  the  parent  stock  maintain  their  helpful  motives 
and  will  struggle  with  infirmity  to  beat  off  a  bird  of  prey. 

The  sympathetic  and  affectionate  quality  of  our  barnyard 
fowl  is  perhaps  best  indicated  by  the  singular  variety  and 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS  155 

denotative  value  of  their  various  calls  and  cries.  Those  who 
know  these  birds  well  will  find  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  about 
a  score  of  diverse  sounds,  each  of  which  indicates  a  particular 
turn  of  their  mind.  Almost  all  of  these  different  notes  have 
slight  variations  of  expression  which  fit  particular  situations. 
Thus  the  crow  of  these  birds,  which  may  seem  to  the  unob- 
servant a  very  unvaried  sound,  discloses  to  those  who  have 
lovingly  studied  them  at  least  half  a  dozen  distinct  modifi- 
cations. In  the  fledgling  male  who  just  begins  to  feel  the 
spirit  of  his  kind,  and  who  goes  through  his  performance  in 
the  adolescent  way,  it  is  a  cheap  and  often  pitiful  call.  From 
the  open  roost  in  the  trees,  where  the  birds  are  gradually 
aroused  by  the  slow-coming  day,  we  can  often  hear  the  note 
of  the  half-awakened  cock,  as  full  of  the  sense  of  slumber 
as  the  speech  of  a  sleeping  man.  As  the  creature  gradually 
awakens,  his  cry  becomes  more  resonant  until  it  has  the  true 
morning  ring.  Brave  as  is  this  note  of  the  full  day,  it  is  not 
to  be  compared  with  the  crowing  of  a  game-cock,  the  most 
splendid  braggart  sound  of  all  the  animal  world. 

The  really  sympathetic  notes  of  our  fowls  are  uttered  in 
their  ordinary  intercourse.  Here  the  gradations  of  sounds 
have  a  range  and  fineness  which,  it  seems  to  me,  we  can 
observe  in  no  other  creature  below  the  level  of  man.  Atten- 
tion, astonishment,  fear,  commonplace  distress,  exultation,  and 
agony  are  all  set  forth  with  cries  which  we,  in  a  way,  recog- 
nize as  appropriate.  Although  some  of  these  sounds  relate  to 
the  larger  experiences  of  the  creatures,  the  most  instructive 
of  them  are  uttered  in  their  ordinary  intercourse,  where  they 
clearly  maintain  a  kind  of  consensus  in  the  flock  by  unending 
small  bits  of  emotional  speech,  the  notes  being  shaded  in  a 
wonderful  way.  These  fine  variations  of  utterance  can  some- 


156  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

times  be  observed  to  be  related  to  slight  differences  of  situa- 
tion. Thus  the  cackle  of  a  hen  when  she  leaves  her  nest  after 
laying  an  egg  is  quite  different  from  that  which  is  made  by 
the  same  hen  when,  during  the  period  of  incubation,  she  quits 
her  eggs  in  search  of  food  and  water. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  eminent  domesticability  of  our 
common  fowls  is  in  a  way  associated  with  the  singular  variety 
of  their  notes.  This  variety  indicates  that  the  creatures  are 
in  constant  and  effective  communication  with  one  another  ;  in 
a  word,  they  are  very  sympathetic.  With  this  intellectual 
helpfulness  naturally  goes  the  love  of  the  domicile  and  a 
disposition  to  submit  to  control. 

So  nice  and  well  understood  are  the  differences  between 
the  sounds  which  these  birds  give  forth,  and  so  well  are  their 
notes  appreciated  by  their  companions,  that  the  creatures 
may  well  be  said  to  have  a  language.  Though  it  probably 
conveys  only  emotions  and  not  distinct  thoughts,  it  still  must 
be  regarded  as  a  certain  kind  of  speech.  The  modes  of 
expression  indicate  that  in  this  creature,  as  in  the  other 
feathered  forms,  the  intellectual  life  consists  largely  in  the 
movements  inspired  by  the  emotions.  On  the  rational  side 
our  fowls  seem  weaker  than  many  other  less  interesting 
species.  In  their  nesting  and  other  habits  there  are  no 
evidences  of  constructive  ingenuity  ;  and  in  all  my  observa- 
tions on  them  I  have  never  seen  any  evidence  which  showed 
either  considerable  powers  of  memory  or  a  capacity  to  act 
in  any  complicated  way  with  reference  to  an  end.  It  is 
evident,  however,  that  they  make  a  very  good  classifica- 
tion of  the  world  about  them.  They  have,  for  the  limited 
field  over  which  they  roam,  a  keen  topographic  sense  ;  they 
never  are  lost,  and  this  in  connection  with  their  sympathetic 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS  157 

homing    instinct   prevents   them   from  wandering  from   their 
accustomed  places  to  take  up  again  with  a  wilderness  life. 

In  their  adhesion  to  domestication  our  common  fowls 
differ  in  a  remarkable  way  from  all  other  of  our  captive 
animals  except  the  dog,  and  these  birds  are  *  even  more 
ineradicably  attached  to  man  than  their  older  companion. 
While  the  dog  will  sometimes  become  half  wild,  or,  as  we 
may  phrase  it,  undomiciled,  fowls  seem  incapable  of  maintain- 
ing themselves  apart  from  human  care.  In  much  ranging 
of  the  wilderness  I  have  never  found  one  of  these  creatures 
more  than  a  thousand  feet  away  from  a  human  habitation. 
When  we  consider  how  common  must  be  the  chances  of 
their  going  astray,  and  how  easy  it  is  in  many  parts  of  the 
country,  as  in  our  Southern  States,  for  them  to  obtain  in 
the  wilderness  food  throughout  the  year,  the  fact  that  they 
never  go  wild  is  indeed  remarkable.  It  can  only  be  explained 
by  the  great  development  of  the  homing  instinct  which  man 
has  brought  about  in  their  sympathetic  souls. 

Although  our  unnatural  process  of  breeding  has  done 
much  to  degrade  the  original  beauty  of  the  cocks  and  hens, 
destroying  the  delicate  coloration  of  the  feathers  as  well  as 
the  admirable  blending  and  contrasts  of  their  pristine  hues, 
it  seems  likely  that  the  effect  on  the  physical  and  mental 
development  as  a  whole  has  not  been  unfavorable.  Though 
less  courageous,  they  are  stronger  creatures  than  in  their  wild 
state  ;  they  are  clearly  more  fecund  ;  they  are  gentler  natured; 
and,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  compare  the  high-bred  with 
the  primitive  forms,  their  range  of  expression  through  the 
voice  has  been  much  increased,  a  feature  which  may  be 
noted  in  other  domesticated  species  of  birds,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  canaries.  The  most  remarkable  alteration  which  has 


158 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


been  brought  about  in  the  minds  of  these  creatures  consists 
in  the  very  great  diminution  in  the  combative  motive  of  the 
males.  In  the  wild  forms,  as  well  as  in  the  kindred  variety 
of  the  game-cock,  this  impulse  to  battle  attains  a  truly  phe- 


i 


Houdin 


Cochins 


Leghorns 


Game 


nomenal  development,  the  like  of  which  is  probably  not  to 
be  found  in  any  other  creature.  The  male  birds  begin  their 
warfare  before  they  are  more  than  half  grown,  and  in  their 
adult  state  will  attack  anything  which  they  can  conceive  to 
be  an  enemy.  They  will,  with  slight  provocation,  assail  any 
of  the  other  domesticated  species  of  birds,  and  even  the 
lesser  mammals,  such  as  the  dogs  and  cats.  They  will  fight 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS  159 

their  own  image  in  a  looking-glass.  I  have  had  game-cocks 
attack  my  hand  when  it  was  held  near  the  ground  and  given 
an  up-and-down  movement  in  imitation  of  their  antagonist's 
head. 

I  once  reared  a  game-cock  by  hand,  keeping  him  secluded 
from  his  kind  until  he  was  adult.  I  then  placed  him  in  a 
large  collection  of  barnyard  fowl  where  there  were  half  a 
dozen  mongrel  cocks,  a  drake  of  the  muscovy  variety,  several 

\  ganders,  and  two  turkey-gobblers.  Immediately  and  in  rapid 
succession  he  settled  his  accounts  with  the  males  of  his  own 

:  kind.  He  shortly  overcame  the  drake  and  the  ganders.  He 
then  devoted  what  was  left  of  his  forces  to  battles  with  the 
turkeys.  Here  he  found  himself  in  great  difficulty,  for  the 
reason  that  these  great  birds  would  seize  him  by  the  head 
and  lift  his  body  off  the  ground.  However,  he  soon  learned 
an  ingenious  trick  which  protected  him  from  this  danger. 
When  gathering  breath  in  the  intervals  between  his  assaults, 
he  would  hover  himself  between  his  antagonist's  legs,  keeping 

:  step  with  the  awkward  creature  in  its  efforts  to  get  away  from 
him.  In  a  few  days  he  wore  out  these  doughty  foemen  and 
remained  the  battered  master  of  the  field. 

Although  the  indomitable  valor  of  the  game-cock  may  be 
in  some  measure  due  to  the  selection  which  the  breeder  has 
applied  to  the  variety,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it  is 

,  essentially  natural  to  the  species  and  is  the  result  of  an  age- 
long habit  which  in  the  native  wilds  of  the  creature  did  much 
to  insure  its  safety.  The  antiquity  of  the  state  of  mind  may 
be  judged  by  the  perfection  to  which  the  spurs  have  attained 
and  the  remarkably  skilful  and  definite  way  in  which  the 
creatures  use  them.  The  spur,  which  has  arisen  from  the 
development  of  the  scales  and  underlying  bone  of  the  bird's 


160  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

leg,  is  a  singularly  perfect  structure,  the  finish  of  which  can- 
not be  judged  in  the  degraded  form  in  which  it  is  found  in 
our  ordinary  barnyard  species.  Although  in  its  construction 
this  weapon  is  admirably  devised,  it  is  placed  in  a  position 
where  only  a  remarkably  well-addressed  movement  can  give 
effect  to  its  blow.  Those  who  have  watched  game-cocks  in 
combat  have  had  a  chance  to  see  the  vaults  by  which  the 


K 


m 


Bantams  Brahma  Dorkings 

creature,  partly  turning  in  the  air,  is  able  to  throw  the  spur  i 
such  a  manner  that  it  shares  the  impulse  of  the  body  when 
strikes  the  antagonist.  This  peculiar  craft  has  been  in  goo 
part  lost  among  our  common  varieties.  Their  spiritless  cor 
tests  differ  as  much  from  those  of  the  game-birds  as  do  th 
fist  fights  of  untrained  men  from  the  contests  of  skille 
pugilists. 

Although  to    persons  unaccustomed  to  the    spectacle  th 
combats    between    game-birds    may   seem    disgusting,  almos 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS  161 

every  one  must  admire  the  valor,  grace,  and  address  which 
such  scenes  exhibit.  Except  where  the  brutal  custom  of  put- 
ting steel  points  on  the  spurs  prevails,  the  birds  rarely  receive 
fatal  wounds.  The  defeated  cock  is  soon  brought  to  confess 
his  inferiority  and  takes  himself  away.  At  no  other  time  in 
the  life  of  these  birds  does  their  organic  beauty  appear  to 
such  advantage  as  when  they  are  struggling  with  each  other. 
Then  alone  do  we  perceive  the  singular  efficiency  of  their 
bodies  and  the  quick  as  well  as  appropriate  action  of  their 
instincts.  They  set  themselves  against  each  other  in  attitudes 
as  well  chosen  and  as  peculiar  as  those  of  a  well-trained 
fencer.  Before  the  assault  they  often  go  through  a  singular 
performance,  which  consists  in  picking  up  bits  of  twigs  or 
pebbles.  These  they  cast  into  the  air,  an  unmeaning  move- 
ment which  may  be  compared  to  the  like  meaningless  though 
similarly  graceful  salute  with  which  swordsmen  preface  their 
contests.  Then,  with  their  legs  flexed  so  that  they  may  be 
ready  for  the  spring,  and  with  the  rather  stiff  feathers  about 
the  neck  erected  so  as  to  serve  as  a  shield,  they  creep  toward 
each  other  until  they  are  separated  by  the  distance  appro- 
priate for  the  spring.  When  fairly  placed  for  battle  they 
begin  a  system  of  fence  which  is  intended  to  provoke  the 
enemy  to  an  untimely  assault.  The  art  of  the  game  appears 
to  consist  in  persuading  the  adversary  to  venture  an  attack 
where  his  force  will  be  spent  in  the  air,  so  that  a  blow  can  be 
given  him  before  he  has  time  to  recover  position.  The  issue 
depends  much  on  the  endurance  of  the  birds.  Their  move- 
ments require  so  much  energy  that  one  of  them  is  apt  to 
become  exhausted  before  the  other  is  quite  spent.  In  rare 
cases,  only  one  of  which  has  been  seen  by  me,  a  weary  bird 
will  feign  death  for  a  minute  or  so  and  thus  obtain  new 


I    ! 


1 62  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

strength  with  which  to  renew  the  combat,  profiting  also  by 
the  confusion  which  he  will  bring  upon  his  adversary  by  his 
sudden  revival. 

Although  the  combatant  motive  which  we  find  in  the 
males  among  our  barnyard  fowls  has  doubtless  been  devel- 
oped through  their  combats  with  each  other,  the  valiant  spirit 
which  has  come  from  it  often  leads  the  creatures  to  attack 
the  enemies  of  their  flock.  I  have  seen  a  nimble  game-cock 
strike  a  hawk  which  was  pouncing  to  its  prey,  delivering  the 
blow  some  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  this  so 
effectively  that  the  marauder  was  driven  away  in  a  sorely 
hurt  condition.  I  have  seen  males  of  the  game  variety 
attack  a  number  of  other  larger  animals  which  in  any  way 
threatened  their  charges. 

Although  our  barnyard  fowl  are  almost  the  only  ground 
birds  which  have  ever  been  brought  to  a  state  of  perfect 
domestication,  there  are  several  other  species  of  the  same 
group  which  have  been  taught  in  a  measure  to  adhere  to  man. 
Of  these  perhaps  the  longest  in  domestication  is  the  peafowl. 
This  creature,  though  it  has  edible,  indeed  we  may  say  savory 
flesh,  has  retained  its  small  place  in  civilization  solely  on 
account  of  its  extraordinary  beauty.  For  its  size  it  is  doubt- 
less the  most  beautiful  of  animals,  its  plumage,  especially  the 
magnificent  display  of  the  tail,  exceeding  that  of  any  other 
natural  object.  There  are  other  birds  of  small  size  which  vie 
with  the  peacock  in  the  details  of  ornamentation.  Those 
jewels  among  the  feathered  tribes,  the  humming-birds,  have 
a  more  delicate  beauty.  The  birds-of-paradise  and  the  lyre- 
birds have  a  grace  in  the  attitudes  of  particular  feathers  which 
is  unequalled  ;  but  for  splendor  none  of  them  approach  the 
peacock  in  his  best  estate. 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS 


The  peacock  is  a  native  of  Southern  Asia,  a  realm  in  fact    \ 
in  which  the  species  of  the  group  attain  an  uncommonly  rich 

development.       The    creat- 
ure   appears   to   have  been 
domesticated    some     thou- 
sands   of     years    ago,    but 
has     undergone      no     con- 
siderable     changes    in     its 
experience     with 
man.       It    has    in 
truth  not  been  com- 
pletely   tamed.       It 


Contributions  from  Asia,   Africa,  and  America — Peacocks,   Guinea-fowl,   and  Turkey 

does    not   willingly  remain    near  the    dwellings    of    man,   but 
prefers   to   abide  apart,   only  resorting  to  the  home  when  in 


1 64  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

need  of  food.  It  is  very  intolerant  of  the  other  barnyard 
creatures,  and  often  becomes  possessed  of  a  kind  of  mania 
for  slaying  their  young,  not  for  food  but  from  pure  spirit  of 
mischief. 

Intellectually  speaking,  the  peacocks  are  much  below  the 
cocks  and  hens  ;  although  they  flock  together,  their  sympa- 
thies do  not  seem  quick  ;  their  cries  and  calls  do  not  number 
a  fifth  part  of  those  which  we  hear  from  our  chickens,  and 
their  notes  are  prevailingly  very  discordant.  Their  cry  of  defi- 
ance, answering  to  the  crow  of  the  cock,  is  one  of  the  rudest 
and  least  sympathetic  sounds  which  is  heard  among  the  birds. 
Its  only  merit  is  that  it  can  be  heard  very  far.  It  is  readily 
audible  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  when  it  breaks  the  stillness 
of  a  summer  night.  At  present  the  bird  seems  out  of  favor. 
At  best  it  is  a  beautiful  but  annoying  ornament  to  pleasure- 
grounds.  It  is  likely,  indeed,  that  it  may  in  time  become 
limited  to  its  native  wildernesses  and  to  zoological  gardens. 

From  Africa  we  have  derived  one  rather  uncommon  ten- 
ant of  our  barnyards  and  fields,  the  guinea-hen.  This  creat- 
ure, though  of  convenient  size,  hardy,  and  commendable  from 
the  number  of  eggs  it  lays,  has  never  won  a  large  place  in  the 
esteem  of  our  rural  people,  and  is  now  not  much  kept,  except 
in  some  parts  of  the  Southern  States  of  this  country.  The 
difficulty  with  this  creature,  as  with  the  peacock,  is  that  it  is 
not  truly  domesticated  ;  though  it  will  not  betake  itself  alto- 
gether to  the  woods,  it  prefers  to  maintain  a  half-wild  habit. 
It  will  not,  if  it  can  possibly  avoid  it,  lay  its  eggs  in  any  place 
where  they  are  likely  to  be  found  by  man.  Moreover,  their 
rude  and  little-modulated  cries  are  in  the  summer  season 
almost  incessant,  and  the  din  which  a  considerable  flock  can 
produce  is  exceedingly  vexatious.  They  thus  do  not  fit  the 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS 


165 


needs  or  comfort  of  man  to  the  degree  which  is  likely  to  give 
them   a  permanent   place    among   his   associates. 

The  last  considerable  addition  to  our  barnyards  has  come 
to  us  in  the  form  of  the  turkey.  This  species  has  the  pecul- 
iar distinction  of  being  the  only  animal  form  of  definite  use  to 
man  over  a  wide  field  which  has  been  contributed  from  the 
life  of  the  New  World.  Although  the  creature  was  much 


The  Domesticated  Turkey 


hunted  by  our  North  American  Indians,  and  is  of  a  type 
which  lends  itself  to  domestication,  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
become  a  companion  of  man  until  it  was  taken  from  the  West 
India  Islands  to  Europe  shortly  after  the  discovery  of  this 
country.  Thence  the  domesticated  form  appears  to  have 
been  returned  to  this  country,  where  it  has  been  a  favorite 
in  a  measure  unknown  in  the  Old  World.  Ornithologists 
deem  the  Cuban  turkey,  whence  our  tame  form  came,  to 
be  specifically  distinct  from  those  which  are  found  on  the 


1 66  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

mainland  of  this  continent.  Although  these  kinds  are  dis- 
tinguishable by  plumage,  they  are  probably  only  varieties  of 
a  common  species.  This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  our 
tame  flocks  readily  intermingle  with  their  wild  kindred. 

The  ease  with  which  the  turkey  becomes  domesticated  is 
remarkable.  In  this  regard  the  creature  may  be  compared 
to  our  cocks  and  hens.  In  both  cases  the  tamableness  is 
doubtless  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  primitive  forms 
dwelt  in  permanent  association,  the  movements  of  which  were 
in  a  way  controlled  by  the  adult  males,  and  by  the  fact  that 
the  forms  had  abandoned  the  use  of  wings  for  wide-ranging 
flight.  The  change  which  has  been  brought  about  in  the 
turkeys  with  their  adoption  into  the  human  association  has 
been  slight.  No  distinct  varieties  of  breeds  have  been  origi- 
nated, though  here  and  there  the  observer  may  note  slight 
local  variations  in  the  coloration  of  the  plumage,  which  are 
probably  due  to  varying  admixtures  with  the  wild  forms  of 
our  forests.  Thus  in  Kentucky  and  other  parts  of  the  South, 
where  the  opportunities  for  the  intermingling  of  blood  of  the 
tame  and  wild  forms  are  frequent,  the  domesticated  creatures 
often  resemble  so  nearly  the  wilderness  forms  that  even  the 
wary  hunter  may  make  mistakes  as  to  whether  the  bird  he 
sights  be  fair  game  or  not.  Unless  carefully  watched,  a  drove 
of  these  creatures  on  the  border  of  the  wilderness  is  apt 
gradually  to  return  to  the  wild  state,  the  three  or  four  cen- 
turies of  life  about  the  home  of  man  not  having  been  suffi- 
cient to  do  away  with  their  ancient  love  of  freedom. 

Among  the  English  folk  of  North  America  the  turkeys 
found  a  large  place  as  an  element  of  the  food-supply.  It 
has  become  curiously  associated  with  the  Puritan  festival  of 
Thanksgiving,  an  institution  which  has  spread  throughout 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS 


167 


the  United  States  and  which  has  in  a  way  taken  the  place  of 
the  harvest-home  festivities  of  the  Old  World  and  bygone 
ages.  It  is  probable  that  the  relation  of  this  bird  to  our 
national  festivities  has  done  much  to  keep  it  in  use  in  this 
country.  It  is  a  well-recognized  fact  that  it  is  costly  to  keep 
and  that  the  eggs  are  not  desirable  for  culinary  use.  The 
species  requires  a  wide  range.  It  does  not  do  well  in  the  con- 
fined conditions  in  which  cocks  and  hens  can  readily  be  main- 
tained. It  therefore  is  not  likely  to  be  kept  in  any  region 
where  the  agriculture  is  of  a  high  grade.  It  is  best  suited  to 
farms  where  there  are  considerable  areas  of  half-wild  pastures. 
Although  the  turkey  is  a  truly  gregarious  form,  its  men- 
tal endowments  are  of  a  lower  grade  than  those  of  most  social 
birds.  Their  calls  are  few  in  number  and  have  little  of  that 
conversational  quality  which  we  note  in  those  of  our  ordinary 
barnyard  fowls.  Although  the  males  contest  the  field  with 
each  other  by  personal  combats,  they  are  not  very  valiant,  the 
creatures  trusting  for  favor  with  the  females  rather  to  the 
parade  of  their  plumage  and  the  pomp  of  their  carriage  than 
to  the  wager  of  battle.  In  the  matter  of  show  they  are,  how- 
ever, very  effective,  being  surpassed  only  by  the  peacock  in 
the  splendor  of  their  attire.  In  their  domesticated  state  they 
lose  much  of  the  beauty  which  they  have  in  the  wilderness,  as 
they  do  their  pristine  dimensions.  Those  who  have  hunted 
our  wild  species  are  likely  to  remember  scenes  where  in  some 
forest  glade  they  have  beheld  a  gobbler  displaying  his  graces 
to  an  admiring  harem.  As  he  struts  about  with  his  tail  feath- 

o 

ers  erect  and  his  neck  arched  back,  now  and  then  pausing  to 
utter  an  exultant  gobble,  the  spectacle  is  one  of  the  most 
amusing  displays  of  animal  pride  which  the  naturalist  has  a 
chance  to  behold. 


i68 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


Recent  experiments  in  ostrich  farming  seem  to  indicate 
that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  introducing  into  our  "  happy 
family  "  the  noblest  remaining  member  of  that  group  of  great 
birds  which  characterized  the  life  of  the  later  geological 
periods.  As  yet  the  efforts  in  taming  ostriches  are  too  new 

for  us  to  tell  just 
what  the  effect  of 
man's  skill  on  the 
development  of  this 
creature  will  be.  It 
is  evident,  however, 
that  the  creature 
can  be  won  from  its 
wilderness  state,  at 
least  to  something 
like  the  imperfect 
companionship 
with  man  which  has 
been  attained  by 
the  guinea-fowls 
and  turkeys.  All 
we  know  of  the 
variations  in  plum- 
age of  birds  indi- 
cates that  the  breeder's  art  may  bring  about  great  changes  in 
the  highly  decorative  feathers  for  which  this  bird  is  to  be 
reared.  It  is  also  probable  that  with  the  better  food  which 
domestic  conditions  imply,  this  wanderer  of  the  desert  may 
be  brought  to  attain  a  very  much  greater  size  than  it  wins  in 
the  hard  life  of  its  native  land.  If  the  form  should  prove  as 
plastic  as  that  of  our  ordinary  barnyard  species,  we  may  indeed 


The  Largest  of  all  Poultry  — The  Ostrich 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS  169 

succeed  in  developing  a  variety  approaching  in  dimensions  the 
gigantic  moa  of  New  Zealand,  or  the  aepyornis  of  Madagascar, 
those  magnificent  creatures  of  the  past  which  passed  away 
just  before  their  native  lands  were  known  to  our  race.  The 
variations  in  size  of  the  wild  ostrich  appear  to  indicate  that 
this  interesting  result  may  be  attainable. 

Next  after  the  cocks  and  hens  the  most  important  birds 
of  economic  value  have  come  from  the  water  fowl.  In  this 
field  there  are  great  opportunities  for  domestication,  only  a 
few  of  which  have  been  adequately  used.  The  aquatic 
birds,  save  for  the  fact  that  they  are  in  all  cases  inspired  with 
a  more  or  less  strong  migratory  humor,  lend  themselves  to 
the  shaping  hand  of  man  more  readily  than,  most  other  forms. 
These  creatures  have  the  habit  of  association  in  a  much  more 
perfect  way  than  our  ground  birds.  They  normally  dwelt 
in  rather  close  order  and  in  relations  which  are  necessarily 
very  sympathetic.  Whoever  has  watched  the  flight  of  wild 
geese  must  have  remarked  the  beautiful  way  in  which  they 
arrange  at  once  for  close  companionship  and  for  safety  in  the 
violent  movements  which  impel  their  heavy  bodies  at  high 
speed  through  the  air.  In  the  order  of  their  flight  the  align- 
ment is  more  perfect  than  in  the  march  of  trained  soldiers. 
Each  bird  keeps  as  near  to  his  neighbor  as  possible  ;  but 
manages  always  to  preserve  the  interval  which  will  insure 
against  a  collision  of  the  strong  and  swift-moving  wings,  an 
accident  which  might  well  disable  them  for  flight.  I  have 
repeatedly  undertaken  to  confound  their  motion  by  firing  a 
rifle  bullet  at  the  head  of  the  moving  wedge.  Although  the 
sound  of  the  projectile,  if  well  directed,  will  disturb  their 
processional  order,  it  never  brings  confusion.  The  startled 
birds  sink  down  or  rise  above  the  plane  of  the  air  in  which 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

their  comrades    are   moving,   but    they    never    strike    against 
them. 

The  admirable  sense  of  interval  which  the  wild  birds  ex- 
hibit in  their  flight  is  to  be  seen  also  when  they  move  over  the 
surface  of  the  water,  where  the  fleet  of  living  forms  is  always 


An  Eider  Colony 

so  arranged  that  each  individual  does  not  interfere  with  its 
neighbor.  I  recall  with  much  pleasure  an  occasion  when,  from 
a  ship  becalmed  in  a  thick  fog  off  the  southern  shore  of  Lab- 
rador, within  sound  of  the  breakers,  I  undertook  to  find 
something  about  the  lay  of  the  land  and  the  chance  of  har- 
borage by  paddling  in  a  small  boat  toward  the  shore.  I  had 
hardly  lost  sight  of  the  ship  when  my  boat  glided  into  an 
assemblage  of  eider  ducks,  where  the  mothers,  with  their 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS 


171 


fledgling  young,  were  lazily  swimming  to  and  fro,  as  if  to 
practise  the  ducklings  in  the  art  of  swimming.  -  Each  brood 
appeared  to  have  its  own  space  of  water,  and  between  each 
of  the  chicks  there  was  likewise  a  less  but  equally  well  meas- 
ured interval.  The  same  features  of  orderly  association, 
which  I  have  just  noted  in  the  swimming  and  flying  of  these 
wild  birds,  may  be  seen  in  a  somewhat  degraded  state  in  our 


Terns  Aiding  a  Wounded  Comrade 

domesticated  varieties  of  the  group.  They  all  indicate  in 
these  forms  a  keen  sense  of  their  neighbors  and  a  habit  of 
association  based  upon  sympathetic  emotions. 

The  sympathetic  quality  of  our  water  fowl,  at  least  in  that 
part  of  the  emotion  which  leads  them  to  be  concerned  with 
the  afflictions  of  their  species,  appears  to  be  more  distinct 
than  in  the  case  of  our  ordinary  barnyard  fowl.  Geese,  as  is 
well  known,  will  make  common  cause  against  an  intruder 
from  whom  harm  to  the  flock  may  be  expected.  Their 


I  72  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

simultaneous  din  when  anything  occurs  to  arouse  their  enmity 
is  commemorated  in  the  ancient  myth  concerning  the  aid 
which  they  gave  in  the  defence  of  the  walls  of  Rome.  There 
are  anecdotes  apparently  well  attested  where  water  fowl  have 
borne  away  a  wounded  comrade  which  had  fallen  before  the 
huntsman's  fowling-piece.  In  Smiles's  "  Life  of  Edwards" 
there  is  an  often-quoted  story  which  appears  to  be  trust- 
worthy and  sufficiently  illustrates  this  point.  A  hunter, 
having  shot  one  of  a  flock  of  terns,  which  fell  wounded  into 
the  water  near  the  shore,  waded  in  to  seize  it.  Suddenly 
two  of  the  terns  came  to  their  wounded  companion,  seized 
him  by  either  wing,  and  bore  him  toward  the  open  sea. 
When  these  two  helpers  were  weary,  the  sufferer  was 
lowered  into  the  water,  and,  in  turn,  seized  by  two  other  birds 
which  were  fresh  for  the  labor.  Working  in  succession,  these 
birds  carried  their  companion  to  a  rock  some  distance  from 
the  shore.  When  the  hunter  endeavored  to  approach  the 
rock,  yet  others  of  the  species  seized  the  cripple  and  bore 
him  far  beyond  reach. 

Although  too  much  value  must  not  be  given  to  the  numer- 
ous anecdotes  concerning  the  sagacity  of  water  fowl,  the  great 
mass  of  these  stories,  as  compared  with  the  poverty  of  the 
anecdotes  concerning  the  better-known  barnyard  creatures, 
seems  to  establish  the  fact  that  their  intelligence  is  much 
greater  than  that  of  the  land  birds.  This  superiority  can 
probably  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  their  life  requires  much 
more  definite  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  than  in  the  simpler 
conditions  which  are  met  by  the  forms  which  dwell  in  the 
fields.  The  circumstances  of  their  life  are  something  like 
those  of  the  seals  among  mammals.  They  have  to  do  with 
the  conditions  of  the  air,  the  land,  and  the  water  ;  and  as  they 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS 


173 


generally  undertake  long  migrations,  the  range  of  the  things 
they  have  to  accommodate  themselves  to  is  great,  and  the 
effect  of  their  labor  is  decidedly  educative. 

As  yet,  from  the  great  number  of  species  of  water  fowl 
man  has  really  domesticated  but  two  characteristic  groups,  the 
species  of  geese  and  of  ducks.  Swans  have  been  brought  to 
a  state  where  they  tolerate  the  presence  of  man,  though  they 


Wood  Duck  China  Goose  Australian  Swan         Canada  Goose 

Some  Recent  Additions  to  the   Poultry  Yard 


rarely  establish  any  really  intimate  relations  with  him.  Some 
other  species,  as,  for  instance,  the  grebe,  have  been  taught  to 
dwell  about  the  homes  of  man,  accepting  food  from  his  hands. 
It  is  likely  that  more  of  these  water  fowl  would  have  come 
into  human  associations  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  they 
are  naturally  migratory,  and  when,  after  a  season  of  domes- 
tication, they  join  a  passing  flock,  they  never  return  to  the 
place  where  they  have  been  kept. 

The  swan,  like  the  peacock,  has  been  bred  for  ornament 
rather    than    for    use.     In   fact,   the   bird  has  no  other  merit 


174  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

than  its  exceeding  grace.  We  cannot  believe  that  much 
pains  was  ever  taken  with  this  creature  to  break  up  the 
migratory  instincts  which  are  common  in  the  wild  kindred 
species.  We  have  to  suppose  that  the  bird  in  its  pristine 
form  was  without  the  impulse  to  undertake  distant  journeys 
in  the  winter  season,  or  that  it  abandoned  ancient  habits  with 
no  great  difficulty.  We  obtain  some  light  on  this  point  by 


Swans 


noting  the  fact  that  among  the  migratory  species  it  not 
infrequently  happens  that,  while  the  greater  number  of  indi- 
viduals undertake  the  annual  journey,  certain  of  them  will 
remain  on  the  ground  where  they  were  born.  Those  which 
remain  would  be  more  likely  to  mate  with  those  which  were 
like-minded  than  with  others  that  journeyed  afar.  In  this 
way  small  local  breeds  might  well  be  originated  which  would 
differ  from  their  migratory  kindred  not  only  in  the  measure  of 
the  wandering  instincts,  but  in  the  capacity  for  flight  which 
their  kindred  preserve.  There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS 


175 


this  process  of  selection  naturally  and  somewhat  frequently 
takes  place.  In  certain  cases  it  may  lay  the  foundation  of 
new  species,  or  at  least  of  distinct  varieties  ;  more  commonly, 
however,  the  individuals  which  have  abandoned  the  migratory 
life  are  likely  to  perish  from  the  severity  of  climate  or  the 
other  unfavorable  conditions  that  their  mates  avoid  by  their 
wanderings. 


The  Original  Wild  Rock  Dove  (Coluntba  livia)  and  Some  of  its  Domestic  Descendants 

Although  many  of  the  free-flying  birds  of  the  land  are  or 
have  been  kept  captive  because  of  the  pleasure  which  men 
have  found  from  their  songs,  their  grace,  or  their  quaint  ways, 
only  one  of  these  has  really  been  gained  to  domestication. 
In  the  pigeon,  man  has  made  what  is  on  many  accounts  the 
most  remarkable  of  all  his  conquests  over  the  wild  nature 
about  him.  While  the  breeder's  art  has  led  many  forms, 
some  of  them  on  several  divergent  lines,  far  away  from  their 
primitive  estate,  in  no  other  field  has  it  accomplished  such 


176  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

surprising  results  as  with  the  doves.  The  original  wild  form 
of  this  group  is  a  native  of  Europe  and  Asia,  where  the  spe- 
cies Columba  livia,  or  rock  pigeon,  is  still  common,  and 
whence  it  may  be  readily  won  anew  to  domestication.  It  is 
a  small,  plain-colored,  rather  invariable  and  inconspicuous  bird 
about  the  size  of  our  American  dove.  In  its  wild  state  it 
dwells  in  small  flocks,  nesting  by  preference  in  the  crannies  of 
the  cliffs,  and  exhibiting  no  striking  qualities  which  make  it 
seem  a  desirable  subject  for  domestication.  We  note,  how- 
ever, that  even  in  this  primitive  condition  the  creature  has 
certain  physical  and  mental  qualities  which  have  been  the 
basis  of  its  adoption  by  man  as  well  as  of  the  wide  changes 
which  it  has  undergone  at  his  hands. 

It  is  a  characteristic  of  all  the  doves  that  their  young  are 
born  in  a  very  immature  state,  and  for  some  time  after  they 
come  from  the  egg  they  have  to  be  supplied  with  food  which 
has  been  partly  digested  in  the  crop  or  upper  part  of  the 
stomach  of  the  parent.  For  the  proper  rearing  of  the  brood 
there  is  required  the  assiduous  care  of  both  parents.  There- 
fore quite  naturally  we  find  among  these  birds  that  the  pair- 
ing habit  is  well  developed,  and  as  they  rear  several  broods 
each  season,  that  the  mating  is  for  life.  Although  there  are 
numbers  of  birds  in  various  orders  which  are  accustomed  to 
the  monogamic  habit,  it  happens  that  the  pigeon  is  the  only 
animal  which  man  has  ever  won  to  true  domestication  in 
which  the  sexes  can  be  thus  permanently  united.  In  the 
dovecote,  however  many  birds  it  may  contain,  the  breeder  can 
be  always  sure  as  to  the  parentage  of  the  young  which  he  is 
rearing.  This  affords  an  admirable  basis  for  the  practice  of 
his  art,  which  is  still  further  favored  by  the  fact  that  pigeons 
reproduce  rapidly  and  the  progeny  are  ready  to  mate  in  a  few 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS 


177 


months  after  they  come  into  the  world.  Thus  the  species 
affords  really  ideal  conditions  for  that  process  of  selection  on 
which  the  improvement  of  all  domesticated  animals  intimately 
depends. 

Selective  breeding  of  pigeons  began  in  India,  as  the  rec- 
ords seem  to  show,  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago. 
Though  other  ani- 
mals have  been 
brought  to  domes- 
tication at  much 
earlier  times,  this 
appears  to  have 
been  the  first  of 
them  to  be  sub- 
jected to  deliberate 
efforts  on  the  part 
of  their  masters, 
which  were  in- 
tended to  bring 
about  in  a  method- 
ical way  certain 
changes  in  their 
forms  and  habits. 
The  most  curious 

part  of  this  great  endeavor  which  has  been  applied  to  breed- 
ing pigeons  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  ends  sought  have 
no  utility,  but  afford  satisfaction  from  the  point  of  view 
of  pure  diversion  or  the  gratification  of  taste.  We  are  well 
accustomed  to  the  action  of  such  motives  upon  our  flowering 
plants  of  the  garden,  but  the  pigeon  is  the  only  animal  where 
fancy  has  labored  for  thousands  of  years  for  its  gratification. 


Turtle    Doves 


12 


78 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


The  breeders  of  pigeons  from  remote  antiquity  to  the  present 
day  appear  to  have  had  no  definite  purpose  in  all  their  pains. 
They  have  taken  the  chance  variations  in  form  and  habit  and 
endeavored  to  extend  these  sports  of  nature  by  a  careful  sys- 
tem of  mating  those  in  which  the  singular  features  were  most 
evident.  Thus  the  fan-tail  breed  has  been  developed  until 

the  creatures  dis- 
play their  unor- 
namental  tail 
feathers  with  all 
the  dignity  with 
which  a  peacock 
shows  his  marvel- 
lous decorations. 
The  pouters  have 
in  some  unac- 
countable way 
learned  to  take 
air  into  their 
crop ;  and  the 
habit  has  been 
developed  by  se- 
lection until  the 
bird  destroys  all 

trace  of  his  original  shapeliness,  though  he  seems  to  take 
pride  in  his  diseased  appearance.  The  tumbler,  probably 
derived  from  some  ancestor  afflicted  with  a  disease  of  an 
epileptic  character,  manages  to  go  through  his  convulsions 
in  the  air  without  serious  consequences  and  apparently  with 
some  pleasure  to  himself.  There  are  over  one  hundred  less 
conspicuous  varieties,  of  which  only  one  deserves  notice,  and 


The  Giant  Crowned  Pigeon  of  India 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS  179 

this  for  the  reason  that  it  has  some  possible  utility  to  man 
and  is  now  much  attended  to.  This  is  known  as  the  carrier 
pigeon. 

In  early  time,  before  the  invention  of  the  railway  and 
telegraph,  some  ingenious  breeder  of  pigeons,  observing  the 
constant  way  in  which  these  creatures  returned  to  the  place 
where  they  were  bred,  invented  the  plan  of  using  them  to 
convey  information.  This  service  was  found  convenient  not 
only  for  ordinary  correspondence,  but  was  exceedingly  valu- 
able where  a  place  was  beleaguered  by  an  enemy.  In  such 
cases  carrier  pigeons  could  often  be  used  to  convey  infor- 
mation across  the  otherwise  impassable  lines.  Even  in  mod- 
ern times,  as,  for  -instance,  during  the  last  siege  of  Paris, 
these  swift  and  sure  flying  birds  proved  of  great  use  in 
keeping  up  communications  between  the  people  of  the  in- 
vested town  and  the  French  armies  in  the  field.  Letters 
in  cipher,  sometimes  photographed  down  until  the  characters 
were  microscopically  fine,  were  made  into  packages  of  small 
weight  in  order  not  to  impede  the  flight  of  the  bird,  carefully 
affixed  to  its  body,  and  thus  sent  away.  Very  generally  these 
curious  shipments  came  to  the  hands  of  those  for  whom  they 
were  destined.  The  birds  can  be  trusted  to  fly  at  night ;  they 
retain  for  a  long  time  the  memory  of  their  home,  and  spare 
no  pains  to  return  to  it. 

The  homing  power  of  the  carrier  pigeon  appears  to  be  a 
special  development  of  a  natural  capacity,  as  is  also  its  swift- 
ness and  endurance  in  flight.  Our  other  breeds  and  the  wild 
species  whence  they  have  all  come  are  not  disposed  to  under- 
take long  journeys  ;  they  rarely,  indeed,  wander  far  from  their 
abiding  places.  Our  experience  with  the  carriers  shows  how 
readily  the  creatures  may  be  educated  to  perform  feats  which 


l8o  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

they  were  not  accustomed  to  do  in  their  wild  state.  Some- 
thing of  the  same  elasticity  of  constitution  may  be  observed 
in  the  bodies  of  our  pigeons  as  they  have  been  affected  by 
selection.  Not  only  has  the  plumage  been  greatly  altered 
by  the  breeder's  art  and  in  pursuance  of  his  plans,  but  the 
form  and  proportions  of  the  bones  have  coincidently  and 
unintentionally  been  greatly  changed.  So  considerable  are 
these  alterations  that  if  these  creatures  were  submitted  for 
dissection  to  a  naturalist  who,  knew  nothing  of  the  history 
of  the  bird,  he  would  have  no  hesitation  in  classing  them  as 
belonging  not  only  in  different  species,  but  as  members  of 
diverse  genera. 

It  must  be  regarded  as  unfortunate  that  the  experiments 
which  have  been  made  on  pigeons  have  been  limited  to  their 
features  of  form,  color,  and  slight  peculiarities  in  their  habits. 
If  the  breeders  had  sought  to  modify  the  intellectual  parts 
with  anything  like  the  insistence  which  they  have  given  to 
the  development  of  these  bodily  peculiarities,  we  might  now 
have  a  most  valuable  store  of  knowledge  as  to  the  limitations, 
of  animal  minds.  The  facts  gained  in  the  breeding  of  the 
carriers  show  clearly  that  certain  of  the  instincts  of  these 
birds  can  be  readily  modified.  There  is  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  their  mental  capacities  in  other  directions  have 
something  of  the  same  pliability. 

Although  the  pigeon  is  the  only  free-flying  form  which  has 
been  won  to  intimate  relations  with  man,  there  are  numer- 
ous other  species  of  these  volant  creatures  which  have  been 
reduced  to  partial  domestication,  though  they  cannot  be 
trusted  to  abide  with  us  without  being  more  or  less  completely 
caged.  Experience  has  shown  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  arboreal  birds  may  be  kept  and  will  breed  in  captivity. 


DOMESTICATED   BIRDS 


181 


From  the  host  of  these  feathered  creatures  men  have  from 
time  to  time  selected  species  which  grace  their  habitations  by 
their  beauty,  their  song,  or  by  the  sympathetic  relations 
which  they  form  with  their  captors.  Our  successes  in  these 
efforts  toward  domestication  of  these  birds  have  been  most 


The  English   Pheasant 

eminent  with  those  varieties  which  in  their  wilderness  state 
have  a  well-developed  social  life,  which  abide  in  families  or 
flocks,  and  have  the  pairing  habit  well  affirmed.  The  reason 
for  this  has  been  already  indicated.  It  is  due  to  the  sympa- 
thetic motive  which  is  developed  in  such  communal  life,  and 
is  manifested  in  the  friendly  relations  with  each  other  which 
the  creatures  maintain.  A  good  instance  of  this  is  to  be 


1 82  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

found  in  the  crows  and  their  kindred,  a  group  of  extremely 
sociable  creatures,  which  are  endlessly  engaged  in  chattering 
communications  with  each  other.  All  these  forms  are  highly 
domesticable,  and  if  for  any  reason  they  had  proved  perma- 
nently attractive  to  men  they  would  doubtless  have  been 
brought  into  the  state  of  willing  captives. 

Although  some  of  the  free-flying  or  tree  birds  have  been 
kept  for  their  beauty  alone,  the  greater  part  of  them  have 
commended  themselves  to  man  because  of  their  voices.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  tell  the  reader  that  the  birds,  of  all 
animals,  are  most  provided  with  means  of  expression  through 
the  voice.  There  is  hardly  a  species  which  has  not  a  greater 
range  of  notes  or  calls  than  the  most  vocal  of  our  wild  mam- 
mals, and  many  varieties  are  impelled  to  tuneful  expression  in 
a  measure  which  no  other  creature,  not  even  man,  exhibits. 
In  most  cases  these  utterances  are  pleasing  to  the  human  ear, 
for  they  have  the  quality  which  we  term  musical.  There- 
fore it  is  not  surprising  that  the  most  of  our  captive  birds 
have  been  chosen  for  their  song. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  song  of  birds,  like  their  calls — the 
two  shade  indefinitely  into  each  other — expresses  a  sympa- 
thetic emotional  consciousness  of  the  actions  going  on  about 
them,  particularly  of  the  life  of  their  kind.  In  general  these 
utterances  are  directed  toward  their  kindred  of  their  own 
species.  In  many  cases,  however,  as  among  the  imitative 
birds,  the  sounds  which  they  utter  indicate  a  curiously  keen 
interest  in  the  actions  of  their  masters  or  other  human  affairs. 
The  mocking-birds  and  some  other  species  will,  with  great 
assiduity,  endeavor  to  copy  any  sound  which  they  happen 
to  hear.  I  well  remember  watching  a  mocking-bird  which  was 
listening  with  rapt  attention  to  the  noise  produced  by  a  man 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS  183 

sharpening  a  saw  with  a  file.  The  poor  bird  would  hearken 
with  great  attention  until  he  thought  he  had  caught  the  note, 
and  then  endeavor  to  reproduce  it.  As  may  be  imagined,  the 
measure  of  his  success  was  small.  He  was  fully  conscious  of 
his  failure,  and  would  beat  himself  about  the  cage  in  evident 
chagrin,  returning  again  and  again  to  try  the  hopeless  task. 

Wherever  the  vocal  organs  of  caged  birds  permit  them  to 
imitate  human  speech  they  are  apt  to  devote  a  large  part  of 
their  labor  to  this  task,  paying  little  attention  to  other  less 
meaningful  sounds.  It  appears  to  me  that  they  perceive  in  a 
way  the  sympathetic  character  of  language  and  therefore  take 
a  peculiar  pleasure  in  copying  it.  It  is  hardly  to  be  believed 
that  they  ever  get  a  sense  of  the  connotative  value  of  words, 
but  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  they  sometimes  attain  to  a 
certain  appreciation  of  the  denotation  of  simpler  phrases. 
In  this  task  they  do  not  exhibit  as  much  sagacity  as  the  dog, 
a  creature  which  learns  to  understand  the  purport  of  rather 
complicated  sentences.  Nevertheless,  their  capacity  for  imitat- 
ing speech  is  a  fascinating  peculiarity,  one  which  has  greatly 
endeared  them  to  bird  fanciers. 

Those  who  have  observed  the  talking  birds  have  doubtless 
noted  the  fact  that  their  capacity  for  remembering  and  uttering 
words  varies  greatly.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  in  the  same 
species  some  individuals  can  do  such  tasks  several  times  as 
easily  as  others.  If  these  speaking  forms  could  be  brought  to 
breed  in  captivity,  and  something  like  the  selective  care  were 
given  to  their  development  that  has  been  devoted  to  the 
varieties  of  pigeons,  we  might  well  expect  to  attain  very 
remarkable  results.  If  anywhere  in  the  animal  world  there  is 
a  chance  to  open  communication  by  means  of  speech  with  the 
lower  creatures,  it  should  be  here. 


1 84 


DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


I 


The   Falconer's  Favorite  —  Peregrine   Falcon 


At  one  time  among  our  ancestors  it  was  accustomed  to 
make  much  use  of  the  larger  hawks  in  hunting.  Curiously 
enough  this  amusement,  more  refined  and  elaborated  than 
any  other  form  of  the  chase,  has  gradually  fallen  into  disuse 

among  Europeans. 
So  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  learn, 
the  only  region  in 
which  it  is  well 
preserved  is  in 
northern  Africa,  a 
country  in  which 
the  custom  was 
probably  intro- 
duced from  Spain 
during  the  occu- 
pancy of  that  pen- 
insula  by  the 
Moors.  From  the 
literature  of  this 
art  of  hawking, 
even  after  we  allow 
much  for  the  exag- 
geration of  unob- 
servant men,  it 
seems  certain  that  the  training  of  these  fierce  birds  was  car- 
ried to  a  point  of  singular  perfection.  The  creatures  learned 
to  do  their  duty  in  a  very  skilful  way,  and  they  readily 
acquired  habits  of  obedience,  under  circumstances  of  excite- 
ment, more  perfect  than  those  which  we  succeed  in  instilling 
in  any  animal  but  the  dog.  When  we  consider  the  natural 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS 


185 


qualities  of  the  hawk,  and  note  that  when  well  trained  he  flew 
at  only  the  designated  game,  and  came  back  to  the  master 
when  a  bit  of  hide  or  other  lure  was  thrown  into  the  air  as 
a  signal,  we  may  fairly  believe  that  the  creature  displayed  an 
extraordinary  fitness  for  receiving  instruction.  The  facts  are 
the  more  remarkable  because  these  hawks  were  not  bred  in 
cages,  but  were  taken  from  the  wild  nests  ;  so  that  there  was 
none  of  that  gradual  accumulation  of  inheritances  under  the 
conditions  of  selection  which  have  brought  about  the  obedi- 
ence of  our  really  domesticated  animals. 

The  remarkable  way  in  which  the  art  of  hawking  has 
disappeared  from  our  civilization  deserves  more  than  a  pass- 
ing notice,  though  it  appears  to  be  inexplicable.  It  is  evident 
that  it  was  a  tolerably  ingrained  habit,  at  least  among  the 
English-speaking  people,  for  it  has  left  a  very  deep  impress 
upon  the  language.  There  are  Tar  more  phrases  derived  from 
the  custom  than  can  be  traced  to  any  other  of  the  sportsman's 
arts.  At  least  one  of  these  collocations  of  words  which  has 
escaped  from  the  minds  of  grown  people  still  holds  a  place 
among  the  boys  of  this  country.  When  two  lads  are  fighting 
we  often  hear  the  bystanders  say,  by  the  way  of  encourage- 
ment to  one  of  the  contestants,  "  Give  him  jesse."  The  use 
of  this  curious  phrase  prevails  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  but  after  much  inquiry  I  have  failed  to  find  a  trace 
of  it  preserved  in  England.  There  seems  to  be  little  doubt 
that  these  words  are  due  to  a  custom  of  beating  a  hawk  which 
failed  to  do  its  duty  with  the  thongs  or  jesses  by  which  it  was 
attached  to  the  wrist  of  the  falconer.  Giving  another  jesse 
thus  came  to  be  equivalent  to  giving  a  person  a  strapping. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  reason  for  abandoning  this 
beautiful  and  in  a  way  noble  sport,  its  disuse  must  be  deemed 


i86 


DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 


most  unfortunate  by  all  the  students  of  animal  intelligence, 
for  it  has  deprived  us  of  precious  opportunities  in  the  way  of 
observations  on  the  mental  peculiarities  which  exist  in  a  most 
interesting  group  of  birds.  In  these  days,  when  there  is 
a  fancy  for  reviving  the  customs  of  our  forefathers,  it 
might  be  well  for  some  persons  of  leisure  to  give  their  atten- 
tion to  restoring 
the  arts  of  falconry. 
Enough  of  the 
practice  and  of  the 
traditions  is  left  to 
make  it  an  easy 
task  to  reinstitute 
all  the  important 
parts  of  the  custom. 
Moreover,  those 
who  essayed  the 
matter  would  have 
access  to  a  much 
greater  range  of 
rapacious  birds 
than  our  forefath- 
ers, who  had  to 
content  themselves  with  the  limited  number  of  wild  spe- 
cies which  inhabit  the  continent  of  Europe.  Especially  on  our 
Western  plains,  where  game-birds  abound  and  the  country 
lies  wide  open,  sportsmen  would  find  an  admirable  field  in 
which  to  follow  the  bird  they  flew.  Not  only  would  the 
restoration  of  hawking  give  us  a  sport  much  more  skilful 
and  refined  than  the  fox  chase,  but  it  would  reintroduce  the 
cultivation  of  the  only  creature  which,  having  once  been 


The  Bandit's   Brood 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS  187 

brought  to  the  service  of  man,  has  been  permitted  to  return 
to  its  ancestral  wild  life. 

The  most  striking  and  by  far  the  most  interesting  quality 
exhibited  by  our  birds  is  found  in  their  sympathetic  motive. 
In  this  spiritual  quality,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  their  own  kind, 
the  feathered  creatures  are  clearly  in  advance  of  all  other  spe- 
cies, including  even  man.  A  single  fact,  one  of  great  gener- 
ality, will  serve  to  make  this  statement  clear.  Among  the 
birds  we  find  the  only  cases  of  true  marriage  which  are  known 
in  the  animal  kingdom.  In  the  greater  number  of  the  species 
the  union  is  for  a  season,  but  among  many  it  is  for  life.  In 
the  case  of  certain  varieties  of  paroquets,  the  union  is  so 
indissoluble  that,  according  to  common  report,  a  report  which 
seems  much  better  verified  than  the  most  of  those  concerning 
the  habits  of  animals,  neither  member  of  the  pair  will  survive 
the  death  of  the  other.  Man,  with  all  his  striving  towards 
a  better  social  state,  has,  as  a  whole,  not  yet  attained  to  the 
enduring  affection  for  the  mate  which  is  evinced  by  the  greater 
part  of  the  birds. 

In  this  same  connection,  we  may  note  that  the  aesthetic 
appreciation  among  the  birds  appears  to  have  attained  a  far 
higher  level  than  it  has  won  in  any  other  creatures.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  exquisitely  beautiful  plumage,  the 
unparalleled  shapeliness  of  form  and  grace  of  carriage,  as  well 
as  the  melodies  which  are  uttered  by  so  many  species,  all  owe 
their  development  to  a  process  of  sexual  selection  which  has 
led  the  discerning  females  to  prefer  the  more  ornamental  of 
the  males  who  sought  them  as  partners.  If  any  one  will 
examine  the  exquisite  shapes  and  gradations  of  color  which 
are  exhibited  in  the  tail  of  the  peacock,  or  of  the  lyre-bird,  or 
even  the  coloration  of  the  game-cock,  he  may  perhaps  imagine 


1 88  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

how  prodigious  must  be  the  development  of  the  aesthetic 
sense  in  these  species,  in  order  that  it  may  take  account  of 
every  little  betterment  which  leads  towards  more  perfect 
beauty.  As  it  will  take  the  generations  of  aesthetes  many 
generations  before  they  are  able  to  "  live  up  to "  the  level 
of  their  culture  which  is  attained  by  the  peacock's  tail,  it  is 
not  unreasonable  for  us  to  hold  that  in  the  appreciation  of 
simple  beauty  in  form  and  in  color,  the  birds  are  far  ahead 
of  ourselves.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  our  aesthetic 
culture  is  to  be  reckoned  below  that  of  birds,  though  in  our 
case  the  work  embodies  the  delineation  of  ideas,  while  in  the 
birds  it  is  a  matter  of  pure  ornament.  Nevertheless,  taking 
the  evidence  which  shows  the  way  in  which  these  creatures 
appreciate  beauty  in  the  three  realms  of  form,  color,  and 
sound,  it  seems  to  me  clear  that  while  their  intellectual 
life  is  low,  their  purely  emotional  experiences  are  probably 
more  vivid  than  those  of  ordinary  men. 

As  the  joy  of  life  is,  in  the  main,  even  in  ourselves  the 
result  of  emotional  experiences,  we  may  fairly  reckon,  even  on 
a  priori  ground,  that  the  birds  win  a  measure  of  happiness, 
though  it  be  that  of  an  unconscious  kind,  which  is  granted 
to  no  other  living  beings.  Psychologically  described,  they 
might  well  be  termed  the  group  built  for  joy.  Their  bodies 
are,  on  the  whole,  the  best  constructed  of  all  animals,  except 
the  insects.  They  suffer  little  from  disease.  We  all  see 
that  their  intercourse  with  each  other  is  freer  and  merrier 
than  that  of  other  creatures.  The  wide  range  of  their 
notes  shows  that  in  most  forms  they  appreciate  every  little 
difference  in  the  pleasure-giving  changes  of  the  day  or  the 
weather.  They  rejoice  in  the  coming  of  each  morning ;  they 
are  sorrowful  with  the  advent  of  each  evening.  They  echo 


DOMESTICATED  BIRDS 


189 


the  distress  of  their  kind  in  a  readier  way  than  any  other 
forms.  He  is  indeed  a  poor  naturalist  who  overlooks  this 
trait ;  for  however  deeply  he  may  have  delved,  he  has  not 
won  the  jewel  unless  he  appreciates  this  element  of  an  unend- 
ing joy  which  the  bird-life  continually  offers  him.  From  that 
life  we  may  well  believe  that  man  is  hereafter  to  derive 
some  great  and  fruitful  lessons. 


USEFUL    INSECTS 

Relations  of  Man  to  Insect  World. — But  Few  Species  Useful  to  Man. — Little  Trace  of 
Domestication. — Honey-bees  :  their  Origin  ;  Reasons  for  no  Selective  Work  ;  Habits 
of  the  Species. — Silkworms  :  Singular  Importance  to  Man  ;  Intelligence  of  Species. — 
Cochineal  Insect. — Spanish  Flies. — Future  of  Man  relative  to  Useful  Insects. 

ALTHOUGH  the  relations  of  man  to  the  insect  world  are 
prevailingly  those  of  hostility,  there  are  a  few  of  these 
multitudinous  creatures  which  have  been  more  or  less  com- 
pletely adopted  into  his  great  society.  Although  not  more 
than  half  a  dozen  out  of  the  million  or  more  species  in  this 
subkingdom  have  thus  been  brought  to  the  uses  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  forms  are  interesting  not  only  for  what  they  give, 
but  for  the  promise  of  further  contributions  when  this  great 
problem  of  winning  help  from  the  insect  world  receives 
adequate  consideration. 

As  a  whole,  the  insects  are  not  well  fitted  to  serve 
the  needs  of  man.  Owing  to  certain  peculiarities  in  their 
organic  laws  they,  fortunately  for  ourselves,  are  very  limited 
in  size.  Although  some  of  them  afford  savory  food  and 
are  occasionally  eaten  by  savages,  and  even  by  civilized 
folk  when  pressed  by  hunger  owing  to  the  famines  which 
the  invasions  of  these  animals  occasionally  produce,  they 
can  never  be  of  any  value  as  sources  of  provisions,  except 
through  the  stores  which  they  accumulate  in  the  manner  of 
the  bees.  All  that  we  have  won,  or  are  likely  to  win,  from 
this  realm  is  from  the  filaments  which  the  creatures  spin, 
the  wax  or  honey  which  they  accumulate,  the  coloring  or 


USEFUL   INSECTS   ^^^^^^       I9l 

other  matters  which  their  bodies  afford,  or  the  help  which 
they  may  give  us  in  our  struggle  with  invading  species  of 
their  class. 

Probably  the  first  insect  to  be  brought  into  friendly 
relations  with  man  was  the  honey-bee.  This  creature,  like 
the  most  of  our  domesticated  animals,  is  a  native  of  the  great 
continent  of  the  Old  World,  though  it  has  now  been  con- 
veyed to  all  the  flowery  lands  of  the  world  where  the  season 
is  long  enough  for  it  to  win  its  harvest.  In  its  wild  as 
well  as  in  its  tame  state  the  honey-bee  dwells  in  one  of  the 
most  perfect  and  highly  elaborated  of  insect  societies.  It  is 
a  member  of  the  group  of  membranous-winged  insects  known 
to  naturalists  as  Hymenoptera,  an  order  which  includes  all  the 
elaborate  societies  of  the  class  except  the  colonies  of  white 
ants.  It  is  characteristic  of  all  these  colonial  insects  that, 
from  the  experience  of  ages,  they  have  learned  the  great 
principles  of  the  division  of  labor  and  of  profit  sharing 
towards  which  mankind  are  now  clumsily  stumbling ;  the 
great  work  which  their  societies  are  able  to  do  is  accom- 
plished by  a  complete  specialization  of  function  and  a  perfect 
share  in  the  commonwealth.  So  far  has  this  elaboration 
gone,  that  in  the  bees  the  work  of  reproducing  the  kind  is 
allotted  to  forms  which  do  no  labor ;  all  the  work  of  the  hive 
being  effected  by  individuals  which  are  sterile,  and  whose 
sole  function  it  is  to  toil  unendingly  for  the  profit  of  the 
great  household. 

While  the  greater  part  of  the  kindred  of  the  bees  either 
construct  the  nests  for  their  young  in  the  manner  of  our 
wasps  or  hornets,  building  them  entirely  in  the  open  air,  or 
excavate  underground  chambers  in  the  fashion  of  our 
bumble-bees,  our  domesticated  form  at  some  time  in  the 


192  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

remote  past  adopted  the  plan  of  choosing  for  its  dwelling- 
place  some  chamber  in  the  rocks,  or  cavity  in  a  hollow  tree 
which  could  be  shaped  to  the  needs  of  a  habitation.  Owing 
to  the  size  of  these  cavities,  they  were  enabled  to  form 
societies  composed  of  many  thousands  of  individuals  ;  while 
the  species  which  adopted  nests,  in  other  conditions,  were 
much  more  limited  as  regards  their  numbers.  Thus  the 
bumble-bee,  which  abides  underground,  dwells  in  very  small 
communities,  probably  for  the  reason  that  the  conditions 
of  the  soil  it  inhabits  make  it  difficult  to  excavate  and 
maintain  large  rooms.  It  is  this  habit  of  resorting  to 
hollow  spaces,  as  well  as  the  instinct  to  store  up  honey  in 
wax  cases,  which  has  made  the  common  bee  valuable  to 
man. 

At  best  the  opportunities  which  the  wilderness  affords,  in 
the  way  of  fit  dwelling-places  for  the  swarm  which  goes  forth 
from  a  hive,  are  much  less  than  can  readily  be  provided  by 
art.  In  almost  all  cases  the  wild  bees  have  to  expend  a 
great  deal  of  labor  in  searching  for  a  fit  residence  ;  and  after 
such  is  found  it  requires  a  great  deal  of  toil  and  expenditure 
of  the  costly  wax  in  order  to  shape  the  cavity  so  that  it  may 
comfortably  accommodate  the  multitude,  and  be  reasonably 
safe  from  the  attacks  of  other  insects.  Thus  it  has  come 
about  that  the  bee  has,  in  a  way,  welcomed  the  interference 
of  man  with  his  ancestral  conditions  ;  and,  though  the  species 
exists  in  the  wildernesses  of  its  native  land,  the  domesticated 
varieties  have  so  far  taken  up  with  man  that  in  other 
countries  they  do  not  wander  far  from  the  limits  of  civiliza- 
tion. Now  and  then  an  uncared-for  swarm  which  cannot 
find  accommodations  about  the  parent  hive  will  betake  itself 
to  the  wilderness ;  though  it  generally  continues  to  seek 


USEFUL  INSECTS  195 

sustenance  from  the  abundant  flowers  of  the  tilled  fields 
where  it  finds  species,  such  as  clover  and  buckwheat,  from 
which  it  has  been  long  accustomed  to  win  the  harvest  of 
pollen  and  honey. 

In  North  America  the  honey-bees,  which  were  brought  \ 
by  the  early  settlers,  and  which  had  been  kept  on  the  frontier 
by  the  pioneers  of  our  civilization,  have  always  extended,  in 
wild  swarms,  a  little  distance  into  the  wilderness.  But,  at 
most,  they  appear  to  have  wandered  only  for  a  few  miles 
beyond  the  homestead,  going  no  further  away  than  would 
permit  their  use  of  the  cultivated  plants.  The  aborigines 
early  learned  to  regard  the  insect  as  the  avant  courier 
of  European  men.  When  they  came  upon  an  individual  of 
the  species  they  always  knew  that  some  white  man's  dwelling 
stood  nearby.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  solitudes  of 
our  Appalachian  forests  must  often  have  remarked,  in  the 
stillness  of  a  summer  day,  the  hum  of  a  swarm  from  some 
forest  or  domestic  hive  in  its  search  for  a  dwelling-place. 
Those  who  have  followed  up  the  movements  of  these  migrat- 
ing colonies  have  had  a  chance  to  perceive  how  long  is  the 
search  before  they  find  a  fit  abiding  place.  Doubtless  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  these  searchers  for  a  home  fail  of  their 
quest,  and  the  wandering  swarms  perish  without  finding  a 
suitable  shelter. 

In  certain  kinds  of  woods,  as,  for  instance,  those  occupied 
by  pine  trees  or  other  species  which  do  not  develop  spacious 
hollows  in  their  trunks,  and  where  there  are  no  crannied 
rocks — all  the  swarms  which  seek  habitations  there  are  fore- 
doomed to  destruction.  If  by  chance  the  colonies  wander 
too  far,  they  generally  find  the  wilderness  so  ill  provided  with 
plants  which  may  furnish  them  with  the  sources  of  wax, 


196  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

honey,  or  other  necessaries,  that  they  cannot  maintain  their 
life.  Thus  it  is  that  the  bee,  though  domiciled  with  us 
rather  than  domesticated,  has  become  united  in  its  fortunes 
with  civilization.  In  this  position  they  have  shown  a 
remarkable  adaptation  to  extremely  varied  conditions.  They 
can  withstand  any  climate  which  permits  the  development  of 
the  vegetation  to  which  they  need  have  access,  provided  the 
growing  season  continues  long  enough  to  accumulate  their 
store.  In  the  tropical  lands  they  harvest  so  little  honey  that 
they  are  not  profitable  to  man,  and  in  the  high  north  they 
need  all  their  summer's  accumulation  to  maintain  them 
through  the  long  winter.  Thus,  though  they  may  range 
almost  as  far  as  man  through  the  gamut  of  climates,  they  are 
profitable  to  their  masters  only  in  the  middle  latitudes. 
They  commonly  do  not  do  well  close  to  the  sea,  and  cannot 
be  kept  on  inconsiderable  islands  for  the  reason  that  they 
are,  in  their  wanderings,  likely  to  be  lost  in  the  waters. 

The  bee,  like  the  other  social  insects,  evinces  a  wide  range 
of  instincts  which  are  intimately  related  to  the  economy  of  the 
hive  ;  but  these  motives  appear  to  be  of  an  unchangeable  char- 
acter. They  show  no  tendency  to  undergo  the  modifications 
which  we  observe  to  take  place  in  our  birds  and  mammals 
when  they  are  brought  under  the  influence  of  man.  The 
only  case  in  which  they  show  any  distinct  effect  from  their 
contact  with  man  is  found  in  their  evident  recognition  of 
those  who  care  for  them.  They  soon  learn  that  their  master 
is  not  to  be  feared,  and,  therefore,  need  not  be  resisted  ;  but, 
beyond  this  dumb  acceptance  of  a  situation,  they  exhibit  no 
trace  of  sympathetic  recognition  of  our  kind.  It  is  clear  that 
their  mental  endowments,  though  considerable,  are  very  much 
more  remote  from  our  own  than  are  those  of  the  vertebrated 


USEFUL  INSECTS 


197 


animals  with  which  we  have  formed  a  friendly  association. 
Moreover,  the  type  of  life  of  the  creatures  in  a  way  excludes 
them  from  any  kind  of  share  in  human  society.  Each  of 
them  is,  from  its  birth  to  its  death,  entirely  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  its  little  commonwealth.  Every  impulse  of  their 
being  relates  to  the  economy  of  their  hive.  While  we  know 
little  about  instinct,  we  know  enough  of  its  manifestations  to 
state  that  the  real  unit  of  this  species  is  not  the  individual 
insect,  but  the  colony  to  which  it  belongs.  The  separate 
form  is  hardly  more  than  a  bit  of  machinery  so  arranged  that 
it  may  operate  at  a  distance  from  the  engine  of  which  it 
forms  a  part.  On  this  account  it  appears  to  be  impossible 
for  us  ever  to  attain  to  any  kind  of  sympathetic  relations 
with  these  creatures. 

Even  more  important  than  the  bees  are  those  insects 
which,  in  their  immature  state,  yield  us  silk.  The  so-called 
silkworms,  like  the  bees,  originated  in  Asia,  and  have  long 
been  in  the  care  of  man.  Beginning  their  experiments  in  j 
spinning  with  the  wool  of  animals  and  the  various  accessible 
vegetable  fibres,  men  have  ever  been  seeking  materials 
which  could  serve  them  in  the  weaver's  art.  At  one  time 
or  another  they  have  tried  an  exceeding  variety  of  materials ; 
in  modern  days  more  than  a  score  of  insects  have  been 
experimented  with  in  the  endeavor  to  obtain  fibres  which 
could  be  turned  to  use.  So  far,  however,  the  Bombyx  mori  \ 
—the  form  which,  as  its  specific  name  indicates,  feeds  upon 
the  leaves  of  the  mulberry  tree — is  the  only  one  which 
proves  really  serviceable.  The  advantages  of  this  species 
are  found  in  a  peculiar  assemblage  of  qualities,  each  of 
which  is  necessary  to  make  it  fit  for  the  ends  it  attains 
at  the  hand  of  man. 


1 98  DOMESTIC  A  TED  ANIMALS 

The  mulberry  silkworm  can  readily  be  bred  in  confine- 
ment. The  eggs  are  easily  gathered  and  preserved,  and  are 
so  readily  kept  that  they  may  be  sent  the  world  about.  At 
a  given  temperature  they  with  infrequent  failures  hatch  ;  and 
if  sufficiently  fed  with  the  fresh  leaves  of  the  mulberry,  will 
in  a  short  time  attain  to  as  perfect  a  development  as  though 
they  grew,  not  in  close  rooms,  but  in  the  open  conditions 
of  the  trees.  When  of  adult  size,  the  grubs  proceed  to  spin 
themselves  in,  forming  a  thick  cocoon  composed  of  threads 
of  a  material  which,  though  as  soft  as  paste  when  emitted 
from  the  body,  hardens  so  as  to  form  a  strong  and  even 
thread.  If  the  insect  be  allowed  to  remain  for  a  sufficient 
time  in  the  cradle  which  it  has  spun  for  its  second  birth, 
the  body  within  the  chrysalis  case  will  proceed  in  a  manner 
to  dissolve  ;  and  in  the  milky  fluid  thus  produced,  where  only 
faint  traces  of  its  former  state  remain,  the  beautiful  image  or 
perfect  form  will  arise.  In  the  economic  use  of  the  creature, 
however,  except  as  far  as  a  supply  of  eggs  may  be  desired, 
it  is  necessary  to  prevent  the  completion  of  its  development ; 
for  in  escaping  from  the  chrysalis  case,  the  butterfly  cuts 
many  of  the  delicate  threads,  so  that  the  silk  is  made  unser- 
viceable. It  is  necessary  to  wind  it  off  before  the  insect 
escapes.  In  this  part  of  the  work  we  notice  the  most  perfect 
adaptation  of  the  creature  to  the  needs  of  man.  While  the 
silk  threads  from  the  cocoons  -of  other  species  which  might 
prove  of  value  cannot  be  easily  reeled  off,  those  of  the  silk- 
worm, when  placed  in  hot  water,  readily  separate,  and  can 
be  gathered  in  a  condition  for  spinning.  Thus,  while  some 
success  has  been  attained  by  carding  the  cocoons  of  other 
species,  thereby  making  a  fibre  which  has  a  certain  utility, 
the  silkworm  alone  yields  material  fitted  for  delicate  fabrics. 


USEFUL  INSECTS 


2OI 


At  the  present  time  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  America  there 
are  probably  not  far  from  ten  million  people  who  depend  in;., 
large  measure  upon  the  product  of  the  silkworm  for  their 
livelihood.  Although  the  product  of  their  industry  and  that 
of  the  insects  combined  is  not  nearly  as  indispensable  to 
man  as  those  which  are  won  from  the  hair  of  animals  or  the 
fibres  of  plants — for  silk  is  a  luxury  rather  than  a  necessity 
—the  value  of  the  work  done  by  these  humble  creatures  is 
greater  than  that  effected  by  the  largest  of  our  domesticated 
animals,  the  elephant.  If  the  philanthropic  economist  were 
forced  to  choose  which  of  these  creatures  should  pass  from 
the  earth,  he  would  have  to  accept  the  loss  of  the  greater 
and  far  nobler  animal. 

So  far  as  regards  their  intelligence,  the  silkworms  are 
much  below  the  level  of  the  bees.  Though  they  dwell  in  an 
aggregate  way  they  have  scarcely  a  semblance  of  social  order, 
and  are  without  the  wide  range  of  peculiar  instincts  which 
we  invariably  find  among  the  commonwealth  animals.  The 
order  of  Lepidoptera,  in  which  these  creatures  belong,  though 
the  most  beautiful,  appears  to  be  from  an  intellectual  point 
of  view  the  least  advanced  of  our  insects.  Their  instincts 
are  all  on  a  low  plane  ;  they  have  no  kind  of  mutual  labor, 
and  however  much  advance  we  may  make  by  selection  in 
developing  their  bodies,  there  is  no  reason  to  expect  that 
we  shall  affect  their  intelligences. 

The  cochineal  insect,  a  species  which  has  the  habit  of 
feeding  upon  the  cactus,  is  used  for  a  dye  stuff,  for  which 
service  the  brightly  colored  body  is  appropriated.  Although 
the  creature  is  deliberately  planted  where  it  is  to  feed,  and 
thus  is  in  a  way  submitted  to  culture,  it  cannot  fairly  be  said 
to  have  been  entered  in  the  domesticated  circle  of  man.  In 


202  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

a  similar  way  the  so-called  Spanish  fly — which  really  belongs 
among  the  beetles — whose  ground-up  bodies  are  used  for 
producing  blisters,  is  merely  appropriated  to  'our  use  with- 
out any  process  of  subjugation.  The  fact  remains  that,  so 
far  as  our  dealings  with  the  insect  world  have  gone,  we 
have  really  won  but  two  of  the  million  or  more  of  forms  to 
captivity  ;  and  our  relations  with  these  have  nothing  of  the 
humanized  nature  which  marks  our  intercourse  with  truly 
domesticated  creatures. 

Small  as  are  the  lessons  which  we  may  read  from  our 
experience  with  the  honey-bee  and  the  silkworm,  they 
appear  clearly  to  indicate  that,  while  we  may  expect  to  do 
little  with  the  intelligences  of  insects,  we  may  fairly  reckon 
on  a  great  field  for  accomplishment  in  the  way  of  changes 
in  their  bodily  constitution.  In  the  case  of  the  bees  the 
facts  show  us  that  in  particular  conditions  of  climate  or 
other  surroundings  a  certain  amount  of  variation  takes 
place,  and  by  proper  selection  either  of  queens  or  swarms 
it  may  be  possible  considerably  to  extend  the  value  of  these 
animals.  The  task  is  beset  with  difficulties  for  the  reason 
that,  while  in  ordinary  selective  breeding  we  deal  with  indi- 
viduals, we  have,  as  before  remarked,  in  this  species  to 
regard  the  hive  or  colony  as  the  unit  and  to  make  our 
selection  with  reference  to  the  qualities  of  that  colony  as 
a  whole.  Nevertheless,  with  the  constant  advances  in  the 
skill  of  our  economic  selectionists,  there  is  reason  to  expect 
that  our  bees  may  be  progressively  improved.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  the  chance  that  the  progress  of  chemical 
discovery  may  enable  us  at  any  time  to  manufacture  honey 
in  the  artificial  way  and  of  a  quality  indistinguishable  from 
that  produced  by  domesticated  bees ;  in  which  case  these 


USEFUL  INSECTS  203 

captives,   at  best  troublesome,   though  most   interesting,  will 
probably  disappear  from  the  human  association. 

With  the  silkworms,  variations  can  be  more  readily 
brought  about ;  for,  as  is  the  case  with  other  animals,  the 
individuals  can  be  paired.  The  efforts  at  selection  already 
made  show  that  valuable  characters  can  be  thus  accumulated, 
though  not  with  the  success  which  attends  the  efforts  of  a 
like  nature  made  in  the  case  of  our  domesticated  mammals 
and  birds.  In  common  with  other  animals — indeed,  we  may 
say,  with  all  organic  life — the  silkworms  vary  perceptibly 
in  different  parts  of  the  world  to  which  they  may  be  taken. 
Thus,  when  reared  in  California  it  is  said  that  this  insect 
develops  more  strength  than  it  exhibits  in  Europe  ;  and  the 
eggs  which  it  lays  there  produce  stronger  insects,  which 
in  turn  yield  larger  cocoons  than  the  individuals  born  in 
Italy  or  France.  With  such  a  basis  for  the  selective  art 
as  the  variations  of  this  insect  afford,  there  seems  no  rea- 
son why  it.  should  not  afford  a  good  field  for  the  work 
of  the  breeder's  art. 


THE    RIGHTS   OF   ANIMALS 

Recent  Understanding  as  to  the  Rights  of  Animals  ;  Nature  of  these  Rights  ;  their  Origin 
in  Sympathy. — Early  State  of  Sympathetic  Emotions. — Place  of  Statutes  concern- 
ing Animal  Rights. — Present  and  Future  of  Animal  Rights. — Question  of  Vivisec- 
tion.— Rights  of  Domesticated  Animals  to  Proper  Care  ;  to  Enjoyment. — Ends  of  the 
Breeder's  Art. — Moral  Position  of  the  Hunter. — Probable  Development  of  the  Pro- 
tecting Motive  as  applied  to  Animals. 

IT  is  well  to  note  the  fact  that,  in  considering  the 
rights  of  the  creatures  below  the  level  of  man,  we  are  deal- 
ing with  a  question  which  does  not  seem  to  have  entered 
into  the  minds  of  the  ancients.  Such  old  phrases  as  "  the 
merciful  man  is  merciful  to  his  beast  "  indicate  that  cruelty 
to  the  domesticated  creatures  was,  in  a  way,  reprobated  by 
the  ancients  ;  but  not  until  well  on  in  the  present  century 
do  we  find  any  indication  that  reason  had  come  to  the  help 
of  pity  in  an  effort  to  frame  rules  having  the  weight  of 
law  and  the  support  of  sanctions,  either  those  of  public 
opinion  or  the  more  direct  penalties  of  the  courts,  to  limit 
the  conduct  of  men  towards  the  lower  animals.  The  great 
tide  of  mercy  and  justice  which  marks  our  modern  civilization 
had  first  to  break  down  the  grievous  and  strongly  founded 
evils  of  human  slavery.  Having  effected  that  great  work, 
the  sympathetic  motives  are  moving  on  to  a  similar  conflict 
with  the  moral  ills  which  arise  from  an  improper  treatment 
of  those  slaves  of  a  lower  estate,  the  domesticated  animals. 

It  is  impossible  to  see  our  position  in  relation  to  the 
matter  of  the  rights  of  animals  without  looking  somewhat 


THE  RIGHTS   OF  ANIMALS  205 

carefully  into  the  intellectual  and  moral  steps  which  have 
at  length  brought  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  question. 
First  let  us  note  that  while  the  rights  of  their  fellows  have 
been  impressed  on  men  by  the  precepts  of  religions,  particu- 
larly by  those  of  Christianity,  the  rules  of  conduct  which 
guide  us  in  our  contacts  with  beings  below  the  level  of  our 
species  have  never  been  determined  by  the  canons  of  our 
faith,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  the  product  of  very  modern 
conditions  ;  they  are  the  thought  of  our  own  time.  New  as  are 
these  tenets,  however,  they  may  fairly  be  received  as  but  the 
last  though  not  the  final  expression  of  that  most  interesting 
of  all  natural  series — the  succession  in  the  development  of 
sympathy  which,  step  by  step  in  the  progress  of  organic  life, 
has  led  from  the  original  dull  insensitiveness  of  the  lower 
animals  upwards  to  the  outgoing  spirit  of  man. 

In  the  lojver_s±ages  of  animal  life  we  find  no  traces  of 
appreciation  of  the  neighbor  except  those  which  necessarily 
relate  to  the  selection  and  capture  of  food  and  perhaps  to 
the  selection  of  mates.  Further  on  in  the  process  of  de- 
velopment we  note  the  love  of  offspring,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  that  love,  the  growth  of  the  family  sense,  which 
rarely  is  maintained  beyond  the  time  when  the  young  can 
shift  for  themselves.  Among  the  species  of  the  higher 
groups — certain  insects,  the  greater  part  of  the  birds,  and 
the  nobler  of  the  mammals — the  instinct  of  the  family  is 
extended  until  it  includes  the  tribe,  or  perhaps  goes  yet  further 
and  leads  to  a  certain  kindliness  to  all  the  individuals  of 
the  race.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  individuals  of  many 
species  below  the  level  of  man  will  respond  to  the  cries  of 
their  kindred  though  they  may  never  have  had  a  chance  to 
know  them.  There  is  in  these  cases  a  sympathetic  bond  that 


206  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

binds  the  kind  together.  It  is  with  this  condition  of  the 
sympathies  that  the  task  of  their  further  evolution  is  trans- 
ferred to  man.  Inheriting  as  he  does  the  essential  motives 
of  the  lower  beings  through  which  he  came  to  his  present 
estate,  man  proceeds  to  deal  with  them  in  a  manner  which  is 
determined  by  the  peculiar  rational  power  which  belongs 
to  him.  In  place  of  the  blind  following  of  the  emotions 
which  .characterizes  the  sympathetic  movements  of  the  lower 
animals,  we  find  that  even  among  the  most  primitive  and 
lowly  savages  rules  of  conduct  are  instituted  which  serve  to 
direct  the  ways  in  which  the  individual  shall  act  with  regard 
to  his  fellows.  In  almost  all  cases  these  rules  are  much 
intermingled  with  the  religion  of  the  people  ;  usually  they 
rest  upon  a  body  of  advancing  public  opinion  which  amplifies 
the  motives  and,  in  turn,  is  enlarged  by  their  growth.  As 
time  goes  on  and  the  folk  attain  the  stage  of  records,  these 
rules  of  conduct  become  definite  laws  which  at  first  are 
based  on  religious  ordinances ;  but  in  time  they  are,  in  the 
latest  stage  of  social  growth,  brought  into  the  state  of  ordi- 
nary statutes  which,  while  they  may  have  some  religious 
sanction,  are  supported  by  the  machinery  of  the  secular 
government. 

After  the  first  rude  work  of  shaping  the  body  of  ancient 
experience  into  law  was  done,  there  remained  the  larger 
and  more  difficult  task  of  continuing  the  development  of 
the  sympathetic  motives  with  a  corresponding  amplification 
of 'customs  and  statutes  so  that  the  steps  of  advance  should 
be  duly  embodied  in  these  rules  of  conduct.  The  stages  of 
this  purely  human  attainment  have  been  slowly  taken,  the 
onward  way  has  been  effectively  won  but  by  few  peoples. 
A  part  of  the  slowness  in  advance  in  the  enlargement  of 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  ANIMALS  207 

the  sympathetic  motives  beyond  the  stage  which  has  been 
attained  in  the  life  below  the  human  grade  is  to  be  accounted 
for  in  the  fact  that  no  sooner  are  laws  formed  than  they 
become  in  a  way  sacred.  If  they  be  cast  in  the  religious 
mould  their  sanctity  may  be  such  that  they  are  almost  be- 
yond the  reach  of  modification  ;  even  when  they  are  secular 
the  reverence  for  the  wisdom  of  the  forefathers  naturally 
leads  men  to  regard  them  as  the  ark  of  safety.  Thus  it 
has  come  about  that  the  codification  of  the  ancient  sym- 
pathies, won  by  experience  in  the  pre-human  time  and  in 
the  early  life  of  man,  has  led  to  the  institution  of  a  barrier 
which  makes  further  advance  a  matter  of  difficulty — one 
which,  in  the  case  of  most  peoples,  binds  them  firmly  to 
the  past,  arresting  their  sympathetic  development  at  a  point 
which  it  had  attained  when  their  laws  were  framed.  This 
is,  indeed,  the  position  of  nearly  all  the  peoples  except  those 
of  our  own  Aryan  race. 

When  the  conditions  of  a  people  are  fortunately  such 
that  they  may  continue  their  sympathetic  growth,  they  pro- 
ceed to  carry  onward  the  process  of  sympathetic  enlargement, 
modifying  their  laws  to  suit  the  gains  in  understanding  which 
come  with  this  growth.  It  may  be  noticed  that  the  develop- 
ment takes  place  most  readily  where  the  rules  of  conduct 
are  embodied  in  statute  law  ;  for  this  law,  being  the  evident 
result  of  human  action,  is  manifestly  alterable  in  a  way  that 
cannot  be  taken  when  the  prescriptions  are  supposed  to  rest 
on  divine  commands.  Under  such  conditions  of  statute  law 
men  are  freer  to  advance  than  they  can  possibly  be  where 
the  rules  of  action  are  in  the  form  of  revered  precepts, 
such  as  guide  the  peoples  who  are  accustomed  to  base  their 
action  on  the  books  which  they  esteem  as  sacred.  Endowed 


208  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

with  this  element  of  freedom,  the  peoples  of  our  own  Aryan 
race — and,  fortunately,  the  most  advanced  of  all  its  varieties, 
the  English-speaking  part  of  the  folk — have,  by  the  divine 
impulse  towards  moral  advancement,  been  led  to  make  a  great 
extension  of  the  sympathetic  motives.  The  first  step  in  this 
direction  seems  to  have  been  towards  the  mitigation  of  the 
horrors  of  war,  which  of  old  meant  the  slavery  or  slaugh- 
ter of  the  prisoners.  Under  the  dictates  of  the  developing 
spirit  of  mercy  and  without  written  law,  these  brutal  actions 
have  been  limited  until  the  dogs  of  war  are  allowed  to  rend 
only  in  the  hour  of  battle.  In  this  day  the  man  who  slays 
the  wounded  or  robs  the  dead  is  esteemed  an  outlaw.  The 
same  beneficent  motive  was  next  extended  towards  human 
slaves.  In  this  matter  English  people  led  ;  and  to  them  it 
was  almost  altogether  due  that  this  evil  has  come  nearly  to 
an  end  except  among  the  Mohammedans,  who  are  bound  as 
in  chains  to  their  sacred  books  and  cannot  win  their  way 
to  progress  through  statutes.  In  a  like  manner,  in  the  care 
of  the  poor,  of  prisoners  for  debt,  and  even  of  malefactors, 
our  English  folk  on  both  sides'  of  the  Atlantic  have  led  in 
the  ongoing  towards  a  higher  moral  estate. 

The  last  great  excursion  of  sympathy  which  has  character- 
ized the  English  Aryans — one  dating  its  beginning  to  this 
century — is  that  relating  to  the  rights  of  our  domesticated 
animals.  This  has  come  about,  like  the  other  movements,  in 
a  way  unconsciously.  Prophetic  spirits  have  seen  beyond 
the  vision  of  their  fellows  ;  they  have  given  their  messages, 
which  have  found  an  echo  in  the  souls  of  men.  The  motive 
originated  in  the  recognition  of  the  essential  likeness  of  the 
minds  of  the  lower  animals  to  our  own.  But  it  has  been 
greatly  reenforced  by  the  teachings  of  the  naturalists  to  the 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  ANIMALS  209 

effect  that  all  the  life  of  this  sphere  is  akin  in  its  origin 
and  that  our  subjects  are  not  very  far  away  from  our  own 
ancestral  line. 

It  is  characteristic  of  sympathetic  movements  that,  while 
they  are  slowly  prepared  for,  their  final  development  is  very 
rapid.  Thus  it  has  come  about  that  within  one  hundred 
years  the  conception  of  the  rights  of  animals  has  advanced 
with  almost  startling  rapidity.  No  other  moral  gain  has  been 
made  with  such  speed  or  has  so  rapidly  become  a  part  of  the 
property  of  civilized  man.  The  steps  are  those  which  have 
been  taken  in  all  the  other  great  moral  advances  :  at  first  there 
were  but  a  few  who,  in  the  manner  of  the  skirmishers  of 
armies,  set  the  standards  far  on  in  the  new  ground  ;  gradually 
the  less  ardent  win  their  way  to  them,  only  to  be  led  the  further 
by  their  natural  guides.  As  the  great  advance  is  still  making, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  far  it  may  attain  ;  it  is,  however,  easy 
to  recognize  some  of  the  important  gains  and  to  foretell  the 
path  if  not  the  field  of  full  accomplishment  of  the  conquest. 
A  century  ago  a  man,  so  far  as  the  law  was  concerned,  owned 
his  living  chattels  as  he  did  the  inanimate  things  of  his  prop- 
erty. He  could  torture  or  slay  them  as  whim  or  malice 
might  dictate  ;  there  were  no  limitations  by  statute,  and  public 
opinion,  where  it  might  reprobate,  was  too  weak  to  influence 
his  conduct.  Now  the  statute  books  of  all  countries  which 
are  moving  in  the  path  of  moral  advance  show  that  public 
opinion  has  attained  the  point  where  it  begins  to  formulate 
itself  in  statutes  which  restrict  the  relations  of  men  to  their 
domesticated  animals — or,  in  other  words,  endow  them  with 
definite  rights.  He  may,  of  course,  force  them  to  do  him 
their  fit  service  ;  he  may  at  his  need  slay  them  ;  but  he  must 
exercise  his  authority  without  brutality ;  he  must,  in  form  at 


210  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 


least,  be  merciful  unto  his  beasts.  With  this  limitation  the 
rights  of  domesticated  animals  began  to  exist. 

At  first  sight  it  may  seem  unreasonable  to  found  the 
rights  of  dumb  beasts  on  the  embodiment  of  public  opinion 
in  the  law,  and  this  for  the  reasons  that  many  persons  have 
held,  that  rights  have  an  establishment  in  the  ultimate  moral 
constitution  of  the  world.  It  may  be  granted  that  even 
before  man  or  even  life  existed  in  the  universe  there  were 
certain  'logical  moral  principles  which  were  destined  to  take 
shape  when  the  creatures  to  which  they  were  adapted  came 
to  be  ;  but  such  speculations  are  fanciful  and  do  not  much 
concern  those  who  are  dealing  with  the  problems  of  the 
barnyard.  We  may,  to  bring  the  matter  nearer,  say  that 
the  slave  of  half  a  century  ago  had  a  right  to  be  free  ;  but 
this  right,  in  all  practical  senses,  meant  only  that  certain 
people  very  much  disliked  to  see  him  enthralled. 

So  far,  by  successive  stages,  first  by  accumulated  public 
opinion  and  then  by  its  embodiment  in  statutes,  we  have  won 
a  measure  of  protection  to  subjugated  animals  which  tends 
to  save  them  from  the  extremer  forms  of  cruelty.  The  ques- 
tion now  is  as  to  the  advances  which  may  be  made  in  the 
time  to  come.  It  is  evident  that  these  advances,  so  far  as  the 
domesticated  species  are  concerned,  will  have  to  be  limited 
by  the  needs  of  man.  We  cannot  ever  expect  to  have  the 
reverence  of  the  Hindoo  for  the  lower  animals,  for  the  reason 
that  his  state  of  mind  is  based  on  the  preposterous  supposi- 
tion that  the  beast  contains  the  spirit  of  a  man  on  its  way 
through  the  cycles  towards  perfection.  We  must  continue 
to  burthen,  tax,  and  slay  ;  but  we  may  fairly  be  required  to 
inflict  no  unnecessary  suffering.  In  this  process  of  amend- 
ment we  shall  undoubtedly  before  long  come  to  the  point 


THE  RIGHTS   OF  ANIMALS  21 1 

where  we  shall  demand  that  these  animals  shall  be  lodged 
in  a  wholesome  manner  and  so  fed  that  they  may  be  fit  for 
their  tasks.  We  may,  in  a  word,  consider  their  well  being  so 
far  as  it  is  consistent  with  the  well  being  of  mankind,  and  in 
so  doing  we  shall  demand  some  personal  sacrifice  from  the 
owner  where  such  is  clearly  demanded  to  maintain  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  law. 

As  in  all  other  great  sympathetic  movements,  the  leaders  of 
the  advance  in  the  matter  of  the  humane  treatment  of  animals 
are  occasionally  unreasonable  in  their  demands — it  may  well 
be  held  that  the  prophet  has  to  be  unreasonable  in  order 
to  attain  his  goal ;  hence  it  has  come  about  that  the  demands 
of  these  admirable  people  are  often  beyond  the  bounds  of 
things  that  are  practicable.  Fire-horses,  however  ill,  should 
be  made  to  do  their  duty,  even  if  it  costs  them  any  amount 
of  suffering  ;  even  as  the  artillerymen  should,  if  the  occasion 
calls  for  it,  rush  their  teams,  though  they  know  that  the  poor 
beasts  are  to  die  at  the  goal.  In  a  word,  the  only  and 
supreme  test  of  our  relations  to  these  subjects  is  the  well 
being  of  man  considered  from  the  higher  point  of  view. 
This  principle  we  apply  to  our  own  kind ;  we  are  justified 
in  like  action  in  case  of  the  brutes.  In  this  consideration, 
the  offence  to  the  feelings  of  man  which  is  caused  by  any 
act  of  cruelty,  however  n  ^cessary,  deserves  its  due  weight. 

The  most  serious  matUr  connected  with  the  question  of 
the  rights  of  animals  which  is  now  under  discussion  relates 
to  the  use  of  these  creatures  in  the  investigative  work  of  the 
naturalist,  or  in  the  repetition  of  the  processes  and  results 
of  those  inquiries  before  students.  Although  all  judicious 
people  are  likely  to  welcome  the  exceeding  reprobation  with 
which  many  philanthropists  visit  the  vivisectionists,  and  this 


212  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

for  the  reason  that  the  state  of  mind  shows  a  rapid  advance 
of  the  sympathetic  motive,  they  are  likely  to  question  the 
sound  foundation  of  the  objections  that  are  raised  to  experi- 
ments with  animals,  made  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  or 
displaying  the  truths  of  nature. 

So  far  as  the  work  of  research  into  the  phenomena  of  life 
is  concerned,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  its  importance 
or  as  to  the  fitness  of  sacrificing  the  lives  of  the  lowlier  creat- 
ures in  any  way  that  may  be  necessary  for  the  advancement 
of  knowledge.      In  the  last  half  century  there  has  been  an 
improvement  in  the  treatment  and  prevention  of  diseases  so 
great  as  almost  to  defy  adequate  description.     To  take  only 
the  last  of  these  precious  gains,  that  in  relation  to  the  treat- 
ment of   diphtheria,   the   gain  has  been   such    that   although 
the  process  is  not  past  its  experimental  stage  the  reduction 
of  the  mortality  in  hospitals  where  the   remedy  is  i 
lowered  the  death  rate  from  above  fifty  to  about  fifi- 
cent,  of  the  cases.     Yet  this  result  rests  upon  a  vast 
of  experiment  which  has  cost  suffering  and  l:r 
animals;  and  to  produce   the   remedy  which  is  u 
have  to  be  innorulated  with  the  disease,  and  tru: 
pain  is  inflicted  upon  them.     Weighed  as 
a  human  being,  a  host  of  the  lower  CPL,  i   as 

nothing.     As  all  human  advancement  depend  the  dis-U 

semination  of  knowledge,  it  is  d'fficult  to  see  any  objection.  , 
from  the  point  of  view  of  justice,  to  the   use  of   the    i- 
creatures   to  accomplish   this   end.     The   only  real   point   in 
the  matter  is  as  to  the  effect  of  such  stene 
young  people  ;  yet  they  have  to  be  accustom'-' 
processes  af  destruction  of  life  which  are  e\<  ^o 

on  about  them.     The  gardener  maintains  his 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  ANIMALS 


213 


slaying.  Our  tables  bear  the  products  of  the  slaughter- 
houses. While  the  anatomist's  work  may  be  revolting,  it  is 
only  so  because  his  tasks  are  done  deliberately  and  for  a 
purpose  that  is  not  yet  properly  appreciated. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  many  a  person  who  enjoys  hunting 
or  fishing,  and  who  slays  or  maims  with  much  pleasure  and  to 
no  substantial  profit,  is  horrified  to  see  a  student  dissecting 
a  living  frog,  guinea-pig,  or  cat,  in  order  that  he  may  learn 
new  truths  or  himself  behold  what  others  have  discovered. 
Of  the  two  aims,  momentary  pleasure  or  intellectual  profit, 
which  is  the  nobler?  In  which  work  is  the  mind  the  most 
likely  to  become  careless  as  to  the  rights  of  the  dumb  beast  ? 
To  my  understanding,  the  present  turn  of  sympathetic  peo- 
ple against  vivisection  indicates  that  the  movement  of  the 
emotions  has,  as  is  often  the  case,  been  diverted  from  the 
fittest  path.  So  far  from  natural  science  tending  in  any  way 
towards  cruelty,  it  has  been  the  very  guide  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  affection  for  living  beings.  By  showing 
something  of  the  marvels  of  their  structure  and  history,  it 
has  increased  in  a  way  no  other  influence  has  ever  done  the 
conception  which  we  form  as  to  their  dignity  and  the  wonder- 
ful nature  of  their  history.  It  is  in  the  true  interest  of  mercy 
to  disseminate  in  every  way  we  can  knowledge  as  to  the 
real  nature  of  animals,  leaving  this  knowledge  to  bring  forth  4 
the  good  fruit  which  it  ever  bears.  In  this  connection  it 
should  moreover  be  said  that  the  naturalist,  like  the  surgeon, 
instinctively  seeks  to  make  his  work  as  little  painful  as  may 
be  to  the  subjects  of  his  experiments.  In  almost  all  cases, 
the  animal  is  made  unconscious.  Moreover,  all  we  know  of 
the  life  of  the  lower  animals  leads  us  to  suppose  that  while 
they  suffer  much  as  we  do,  their  pains  are  of  a  physical  sort, 


214  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

and  unassociated  to  any  great  extent  with  the  large  fears  and 
anticipations  which  in  the  case  of  man  form  so  considerable  a 
part  of  his  torment  when  in  face  of  death. 

The  question  of  vivisection  is  but  a  part,  indeed  a  very 
small  part,  of  the  much  larger  problem  as  to  the  relation  of 
men  to  the  lower  life  which  is  about  them  in  their  fields  and 
in  the  wilderness.  An  approximate  census  of  the  species 
now  on  the  earth  shows  that  the  number  is  between  two  and 
three  million.  In  the  presence  of  this  host,  we  have  to  rec- 
ognize that  each  of  the  innumerable  individuals  in  its  lifetime 
is  a  record  of  toil  and  pain  the  history  of  which  .extends 
backward  to  the  beginnings  of  life.  In  this  wonderful  living 
world  man  has  trodden  ruthlessly,  for  the  reason  that  he  has 
no  sense  as  to  the  dignity  of  the  field.  In  the  manner  of  a 
vandal,  he  has  slain  for  profit  or  sport.  He  has  been  so 
effectual  a  destroyer  that  species,  genera,  and  even  families 
of  animals  have  been  ruthlessly  swept  away.  The  revelation 
of  natural  science,  of  the  men  of  the  knife  who  are  so  hated 
by  some  well-meaning  but  misdirected  people,  have  now  and 
only  in  our  day  brought  us  to  a  point  where  the  sense  of 
nature  in  its  organic  aspect  begins  to  penetrate  the  minds 
of  men.  The  revelation  is  so  vast  in  its  contents  and  its 
imports,  the  conceptions  which  rest  upon  it  are  so  greatly 
enlarging  to  the.  human  soul,  that  we  may  be  sure  of  the 
wide  and  swift  extension  of  the  new  light.  It  cannot  be 
•questioned  that  the  clearer  insight  will  rapidly  change  the 
attitude  of  men  toward  all  living  beings.  We  can  in  a  way 
discern  some  of  the  conceptions  as  to  the  rights  of  the  other 
life  which  will  be  enforced  on  mankind. 

It  is  likely  that  the  first  step  into  the  new  field  of  human 
duty,  due   to  our  better  understanding    as    to    our  place    in 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  ANIMALS 


215 


nature,  will  be  in  the  direction  of  a  greater  care  _asjtp  our 
domesticated  forms.  While  we  must  continue  to  make  their  r 
lives  subserve  our  own,  we  may  well  insist  that  they  should 
be  properly  housed,  and  have  what  it  may  be  possible  to 
afford  them  in  the  way  of  their  primitive  joys,  which  come 
from  the  sun,  the  air,  and  their  natural  food.  No  one  who 
has  seen  a  long-stabled  horse  made  free  of  a  field  can  have 
failed  to  note  the  intense  pleasure  which  he  takes  in  return- 
ing to  something  like  his  natural  conditions.  Many  a  cow 
stable  with  its  foul  conditions  inflicts  more  and  more  endur- 
ing torments  than  all  the  vivisectionists  that  some  misguided 
philanthropists  are  fighting;  yet  because  of  the  novelty  of  the 
naturalist's  work  these  attend  to  the  new  scene  and  neglect 
the  ancient  abuse.  Among  these  evils  which  are  to  be  cor- 
rected we  may  also  account  that  which  arises  from  the  un- 
guided  development  of  what  are  called  fancy  breeds.  Thus 
among  our  horned  cattle,  the  Jerseys  have  been  brought  to 
a  point  where,  from  the  iniquitous  inbreeding,  which  is 
against  what  may  be  called  the  morality  of  nature,  they  are 
fearfully  subjected  to  tuberculosis.  The  punishment  for  this 
insensate  performance  comes  back  upon  mankind  in  the  dis- 
semination of  consumption  ;  but  unhappily  it  does  not  visit 
the  people  who  are  responsible  for  the  development  of  this 
breed.  A  like,  though  less  considerable,  evil  is  shown  in 
the  fancy  breeds  of  dogs,  pigeons,  and  some  other  petted 
animals,  where  for  amusement  and  as  an  indication  of  his 
power  man  has  raised  up  many  decrepit  and  sickly  varieties, 
which  are  not  likely  to  have  a  fair  share  in  the  pleasure  of 
life  which  their  natural  breeding  insured  them. 

The  observant  naturalist   of  the  field  has   the   sense — at 
least  he  has  it  if  he  be  endowed  with  a  little  imagination — of 


216  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

the  immense  pleasure  which  life  gives  to  most  wild  animals. 
That  instinctive,  and  in  its  foundations  utterly  irrational  and 
animal  joy  which  men  have,  or  should  have,  in  their  day, 
is  part  of  the  birthright  of  all  sentient  beings.  As  yet  we 
have  not  recognized  that  this  privilege  of  enjoyment  should 
be  confessed.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  slay  or  maim  for  mere 
sport.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  ancient  forms  of  this 
sport,  such  as  bull-baiting  and  cock-fighting,  have  been  con- 
demned, but  the  best  of  men  go  afield  with  the  gun  to  slay 
for  pleasure.  In  a  measure  they  keep  up  the  pretence  that 
they  are  in  some  way  contributing  to  the  needs  of  the 
larder,  but  so  far  as  needs  are  concerned  the  pretence  is 
mostly  idle.  It  seems  to  me  clear  that  in  shaping  our 
sympathetic  relations  towards  animals  in  the  light  of  our 
present  knowledge,  the  huntsman  will  soon  become  un- 
known in  civilized  life.  So  long  as  men  looked  upon  ani- 
mals in  the  childish,  ignorant  way,  viewing  them  as  utterly 
commonplace  things,  hunting  or  fishing,  for  the  reason  that 
they  rested  on  a  foundation  of  ancient  emotions,  might  well 
be  indulged  in.  But  to  the  man  who  knows  what  science 
has  to  teach  him,  and  who  discerns  the  marvels  which  the 
animal  form  enfolds,  the  destruction  of  such  objects,  except 
for  need's  sake,  is  sure  to  be  painful.  I  judge  this  from  my 
individual  experience.  In  my  youth  I  was  very  fond  of 
hunting,  and  could  even  wring  the  necks  of  wounded  birds 
without  trouble  of  mind.  A  better  sense  of  what  life  means, 
a  sense  which  is  no  better  than  that  to  which  alk  educated 
men  are  soon  to  attain,  has  made  such  work  very  repulsive 
to  me. 

When    the  knowledge  of   our    time  is  so  brought  down 
among  the  masses  of  men  that  it  may  afford  the  foundations 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  ANIMALS  21  7 

for  appropriate  enlargement  of  .the  sympathies,  the  result  will 
doubtless  be  a  great  movement  towards  enlargement  in  pub- 
lic opinion  which  credits  the  lower  life  with  what  we  term 
rights.  The  most  important  result  of  this  movement  will 
be  the  creation  of  a  sense  of  duty  by  this  life.  It  is  said 
of  Mohammedans  that  they  hesitate  to  tread  upon  a  bit  of 
paper  lest  it  bear  the  name  of  God.  We  know  now  full 
well  that  every  living  creature  in  this  world  bears  the  stamp 
of  a  Providence  which  has  acted  from  all  time,  and  that  we, 
so  far  as  our  own  advancement  will  permit,  are  morally 
bound  to  allow  this  life  to  go  forward  on  the  appointed 
way. 


THE    PROBLEM    OF    DOMESTICATION 

The  Conditions  of  Domestication  ;  Effects  on  Society  ;  Share  of  the  Races  of  Men  in  the 
Work. — Evils  of  Non-Intercourse  with  Domesticated  Animals  as  in  Cities  ;  Remedies. — 
Scientific  Position  of  Domestication  ;  Future  of  the  Art. — List  of  Species  which  may 
Advantageously  be  Domesticated. — Peculiar  Value  of  the  Birds  and  Mammals. — Impor- 
tance of  Groups  which  tenant  High  Latitudes. — Plan  for  Wilderness  Reservations  ; 
Relation  to  National  Parks. — Project  for  International  System  of  Reservations. — Nature 
of  Organic  Provinces  ;  Harm  done  to  them  by  Civilized  Men. — Way  in  which  Reser- 
vations would  Serve  to  Maintain  Types  of  the  Life  of  the  Earth  ;  how  they  may  be 
Founded. — Summary  and  Conclusions. 

THE  advance  of  mankind  from  the  primitive  savagery 
has  been  accomplished  in  many  ways.  Among  the  various 
paths  of  onward  and  upward  going,  however,  we  trace  three 
which  have  served  greatly  to  secure  the  elevation  of  our 
estate.  First  of  all,  culture  came  through  the  use  of  the 
hands  in  the  development  of  the  simpler  arts.  Next,  these 
arts  led  men  to  search  the  stores  of  the  wilderness  and  of  the 
under  earth  for  materials  which  could  serve  them  in  their 
advancing  crafts.  The  third  important  stage  in  their  ongoing 
was  attained  when  they  began  to  subjugate  the  animals  and 
plants  of  the  wilds,  bringing  the  creatures  to  abide  in  and 
about  the  households.  Although  in  general  this  was  the  last 
great  step  to  be  taken  in  the  beginnings  of  civilization,  it  was 
on  many  accounts  the  most  important. 

Until  men  began  to  domesticate  the  forms  of  the  wilder- 
ness, it  was  impossible  for  them  to  rise  above  the  grade  of 
savages.  Their  supply  of  food  was  necessarily  in  such  a 
measure  limited  that  their  societies  had  to  remain  small  and 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION 


219 


they  were  given  to  much  wandering  to  and  fro  over  the  earth. 
Moreover,  they  had  only  the  strength  of  their  own  hands  for 
all  the  work  of  life.  It  was  not  until  our  kind  began  to  form 
a  society  of  other  species  about  their  homes  that  the  founda- 
tions of  civilizations  were  firmly  established.  The  home, 
indeed,  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  the  product  of  the  "conditions 
which  the  process  of  domestication  brought  about.  As  dis- 
tinguished from  the  temporary  hut  of  primitive  men,  it  repre- 
sented the  stability  which  was  induced  by  the  care  of  the 
plants  and  animals  which  man  had  domiciled  about  him. 

With  every  step  upward  in  the  organization  of  society  we     \ 
find    that   the    number    and    efficiency    of    these    subjugated 
creatures  increases.      Our  American  aborigines  in  their  primi- 
tive state  commanded  only  the  dog  and  three  or  four  plants, 
yet  with  this  scant  help    they  had  already  won  beyond  the 
lowest  savagery  and  were  at  the  threshold  of  barbarism.      In 
our  more  civilized  societies  of  to-day  we  find  the  products  of 
near    a    hundred    animals    and    about   a  thousand    plants   as  \ 
elements  of  commerce,  and  each  year  sees  some  gain  in  the 
number  of  creatures  which  we  make  tributary  to  our  desires. 

So  far  as  we  can  discern,  the  relations  of  primitive  savages-]' 
to  the  animal  life  about  them  is  on  the  whole  more  friendly 
than  is  that  of  cultivated  me'n.  It  is  true  that  the  savage 
looks  to  the  creatures  of  the  wilderness  for  the  greater  part 
of  his  needs.  He  slays  them,  not  at  all  in  sport,  but  for  the 
profit  they  may  afford.  Moreover,  in  most  cases,  his  imagina- 
tion endows  these  wild  creatures  with  a  spirit  like  his  own. 
He  often  adopts  them,  in  his  religious  worship,  placing  his 
tribe  under  the  protection  of  one  or  another,  as  some  of  our 
own  people  do  themselves  under  the  protection  of  particular 
saints.  The  effect  of  domestication  when  man  comes  to  have 


220  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

his  own  separate  estate  in  animal  life  is  to  separate  men 
from  the  creatures  of  the  wilderness.  "Wild"  and  "tame" 
come  to  be  terms  having  a  meaning  which  the  savage  does 
not  recognize,  and  this  meaning  has  with  the  advance  of 
culture  become  intensified,  until  to  most  men  the  only  creat- 
ures entitled  to  protection  are  those  which  have  been  made 
subject  to  man. 

At  first  the  process  of  domestication  concerned  only  useful 
animals  or  plants,  those  which  would  take  a  part  in  our 
industries.  Rapidly,  however,  these  creatures  have  been 
adopted  with  the  view  to  the  aesthetic  satisfaction  which 
they  might  afford.  Quite  half  of  the  number  of  species 
which  have  come  under  human  control  have  been  tamed 
mainly  if  not  altogether  because  of  the  charms  which  they 
possess.  If  we  reckon  flowering  plants  in  the  category,  by 
far  the  greater  number  of  our  captives  have  been  brought 
to  us  because  of  their  beauty. 

The  work  of  domestication  has  in  the  main  been  effected 
by  our  own  Aryan  race.  Out  .of  the  total  number  of  ani- 
mals and  plants  which  have  been  made  captives,  probably 
more  than  two-thirds  have  been  brought  into  subjection 
by  the  European  Aryans  or  by  the  folk  whom  they  have 
profoundly  affected  with  their  civilizing  motives.  The  dis- 
position to  win  goods  from  the  wilderness  is  in  effect  a  fair 
test  of  those  qualities  in  a  people  which  give  them  domi- 
nance :  we  may  indeed  roughly  measure  the  qualities  of 
diverse  folk  by  a  variety  of  conquests  of  this  kind,  which 
they  have  made.  The  reason  for  this  relation  is  plain.  Suc- 
cess, whether  it  be  of  the  individual  or  of  the  race,  depends 
in  large  measure  upon  forethoughtfulness,  on  a  disposition 
to  study  as  to  where  profit  may  be  had,  and  intelligently  to 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION 


221 


seek  accessions  of  strength  by  experiments  in  domestication. 
Each  of  these  winnings  from  the  wilderness  represented  by 
our  domesticated  animals  or  plants  has  been  painfully  and 
laboriously  gained.  The  men  who  did  the  tasks  were  not 
creatures  of  the  day,  but  foresightful  beyond  the  average  of 
mortals. 

In  a  large  way  the  work  of  domestication  represents  one 
of  the  modes  of  action  of  that  sympathetic  motive  which 
more  than  any  other  has  been  the  basis  of  the  highest 
development  of  mankind.  Ordinary  men  of  the  low  grade 
are  content  to  slay,  or  otherwise  rudely  gain  what  value  they 
find  in  the  wild  creatures.  Only,  the  higher  grades  of  men 
perceive  much  of  the  charm  in  the  inhabitants  of  the  wilder- 
ness, or  desire  to  win  them  to  their  homes.  If  our  conquests 
from  the  wilds  were  limited  to  the  grossly  profitable  life 
alone,  we  might  say  that  interest  only  had  determined  the 
work  of  subjugation  ;  but  as  soon  as  men  escape  from  their 
primitive  state,  even  while  in  their  general  motives  they  are 
still  essentially  barbarians,  they  cultivate  flowers  and  derive 
a  keen  pleasure  from  their  company.  They  domesticate 
birds  which  are  valuable  only  for  the  pleasures  which  their 
presence  lends  to  human  abodes.  This  action  clearly  shows  $ 
that  the  element  of  sympathy,  that  love  for  the  other  life 
which  in  any  way  fixes  the  attention,  has  had  much  to  do 
with  this  work  of  bringing  other  beings  into  association 
with  our  own  lives. 

Not  only  is  the  motive  which  has  led  our  race  to  such 
extensive  conquests  over  the  wild  nature  in  itself  sympa- 
thetic, but  the  process  of  winning  these  creatures  from  the 
wilderness  has  served  effectively  to  extend  and  amplify  this 
same  impulse.  One  of  the  best  features  of  agricultural  life 


222  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

consists  in  the  great  amount  of  care-taking  which  it  imposes 
upon  its  followers.  The  ordinary  farmer  has  to  enter  into 
more  or  less  sympathetic  relations  with  half  a  score  of  animal 
species  and  many  kinds  of  plants.  His  life,  indeed,  is 
devoted  to  ceaseless  friendly  relations  with  these  creatures 
which  live  or  die  at  his  will.  In  this  task  his  ancient  savage 
impulses  are  slowly  worn  away,  and  in  their  place  comes  the 
enduring  kindliness  of  cultivated  men.  When  we  compare 
the  state  of  mind  of  the  hunter  with  that  of  the  care-taking 
soil-tiller,  we  see  the  vast  scope  and  influence  which  this  work 
of  domestication  has  effected  in  our  kind.  To  it  perhaps 
more  than  to  any  other  cause  we  must  attribute  the  civil- 
izable  and  the  civilized  state  of  mind. 

Although  no  discreet  person  will  venture  to  determine  the 
relative  weight  which  should  be  given  to  the  influences  which 
have  made  for  civilization,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
care  of  domesticated  animals  has  been  one  of  the  most  potent 
of  these  agents.  Not  only  has  this  employment  served  to 
develop  the  motives  of  care-taking  that  result  in  the  post- 
ponement of  the  momentary  satisfaction  of  indolence  or  of 
hunger  for  the  prospect  of  security  or  wealth  to  come,  but  it 
has  served  to  arouse  and  broaden  the  sympathies  given  men, 
that  humane  spirit  without  which  the  best  of  our  higher 
culture  cannot  be  attained.  If  this  view  be  correct,  we  may 
find  in  it  a  good  reason  for  regretting  the  increasing  devel- 
opment of  cities,  a  reason  which  is  more  definite  than  the 
most  of  those  which  have  been  urged  against  the  growth 
of  great  towns.  Statistics  seem  to  indicate  that  people  are 
as  healthy,  as  long  lived,  and  on  the  whole  no  more  given  to 
vice  and  crime  in  a  well-ordered  urban  life  than  they  are  on 
the  farms,  It  is  certainly  easier  to  give  them  the  formal 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  223 

education  of  the  schools  in  the  dense  than  in  the  scattered 
condition.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  practi- 
cally complete  separation  of  the  most  of  our  cities  from  all 
educative  contact  with  the  ancient  companions  and  helpers 
of  men  brings  about  an  omission  of  an  element  in  culture 
that  may  entail  serious  consequences. 

The  question  arises  as  to  what  can  be  done  to  diminish 
the  evils  which  come  from  the  total  separation  of  a  large 
part  of  our  people  from  the  humanizing  influences  due  to 
the  care  of  animals.  How  general  this  separation  is  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  find 
in  the  manufacturing  towns  of  Massachusetts  not  one  child 
in  thirty  ever  knew  what  it  is  to  care  for  any  creature,  save 
those  of  its  kind.  And  even  in  a  well-conditioned  place  like 
Cambridge,  the  proportion  of  those  who  have  any  educative 
contact  with  animals  probably  does  not  exceed  one  in  fifteen. 
I  do  not  reckon  the  mere  chance  playing  with  a  dog  or  cat 
as  serving  the  need ;  the  real  service  is  when  the  person  has 
a  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  life  of  the  animal.  To  bring 
about  this  relation  in  the  ordinary  conditions  of  a  town  is 
usually  impossible.  Something  can,  however,  be  accom- 
plished by  various  expedients. 

In  the  lowest  state  of  townspeople  it  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion to  give  the  children  any  pets  whatever.  Even  caged 
birds  cannot  or  should  not  be  accommodated  in  the  cheaper 
grade  of  lodging-houses.  Wherever  the  animals  are  in 
separate  houses  it  is  often  possible  for  children  to  have  some 
contact  with  sympathetic  animal  life.  In  these  conditions 
our  cocks  and  hens  are  the  best  creatures  to  rear.  They  are 
the  most  attractive  of  all  our  domesticated  birds  ;  they  do 
better  than  any  other  forms  of  economic  value  in  narrow  con- 


224  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

ditions,  and,  what  is  of  importance  for  the  end  in  view,  they 
contribute  a  share  of  food,  so  that  a  boy  may  have  from 
them  some  experience  with  the  economic  relation  of  animals 
to  men. 

Some  persons  who  have  observed  the  advancing  process 
of  destruction  of  the  natural  world  may  have  been  brought  to 
consider  the  change  as  in  the  necessary  and  inevitable  order 
which  comes  with  the  higher  development  of  man.  They 
may  welcome — indeed,  some  evidently  do  welcome — the 
chance  that  the  ancient  system  may  utterly  disappear,  and 
all  the  earth  become  fields  and  garden  places  tenanted  only 
by  those  forms  that  man  may  have  chosen  to  be  his  com- 
panions. To  many  people  who  have  a  keen  impression  as  to 
the  importance  of  man  in  the  great  economy,  and  no  clear 
sense  of  his  relation  to  the  natural  order,  this  possibility  is 
doubtless  attractive.  It  is  not  so  to  those  who  have  gained 
a  clear  idea  of  the  place  of  man  and  the  conditions  of  his 
ongoing. 

There  is  reason  to  expect  that  the  modern  gains  in  the 
cheapness  and  speed  of  transportation  may  before  long  bring 
about  a  material  change  in  the  housing  of  the  laboring 
classes  of  our  cities,  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  dwell  in 
somewhat  rural  conditions.  In  this  way  we  may  hope  to 
see  these  people  once  again  brought  where  they  may  receive 
a  fuller  share  of  the  influences  which  have  served  so  well 
to  lift  our  race  to  its  elevated  moral  station.  Working  to 
the  same  end  is  the  spirit  which  is  leading  many  manu- 
facturers to  place  their  establishments  in  the  country,  where 
they  can  control  the  mode  of  life  of  the  employees  and  their 
families.  Against  the  growth  of  the  factory  towns  with 
their  sordid  conditions,  we  may  with  pleasure  set  these  rural 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  225 

workshops  where  the  capitalists  are  doing  the  best  they  can 
to  better  the  mode  of  living  of  the  people  who  are  under 
their  charge.  In  this  good  work  it  may  well  be  possible  to 
include  a  share  of  contact  with  the  soil  and  with  domesti- 
cated animals.  In  this  system  of  isolated  factories  we  may 
perhaps  hope  to  find  the  way  out  of  the  perplexities  which 
the  present  condition  of  our  industries  have  imposed  on  our 
civilization. 

Up  to  our  present  half-century  the  process  of  winning 
animals  and  plants  to  domestication,  and  of  improving 
them  after  they  had  been  thus  won,  has  been  in  its 
nature  a  matter  of  haphazard.  Here  and  there,  as  men 
have  seen  creatures  which  promised  in  captivity  to  afford 
either  pleasure  or  profit,  they  have  endeavored  to  convert 
them  to  use.  In  some  cases  the  effort  has  been  made  with 
some  patience  and  steadfastness  of  purpose.  If  the  creature 
yielded  quickly  to  the  needs  of  a  new  life  which  it  was 
sought  to  impose  upon  him,  he  became  a  member  of  man's 
family.  If  its  wilderness  motives  were  strong,  the  effort  to 
domesticate  was  soon  abandoned.  The  greater  part  of  these  @ 
efforts  to  win  animals  and  plants  into  alliance  with  our  race 
have  been  made  with  the  creatures  which  were  native  in 
the  wildernesses  about  our  ancestral  dwelling-places.  Occa- 
sionally from  distant  lands  important  gains  have  been  made, 
especially  among  the  food-giving  plants  ;  but  all  the  animals 
of  any  importance  which  have  been  adopted  by  the  Aryan 
people  were  originally  natives  of  the  lands  in  which  that  race 
has  dwelt. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  no  sooner  does  a  wild  animal 

/ 

or  plant  become  intimately  associated  with  man,  than  it  at 
once  departs  more  or  less  widely  from  its  ancient  type.  Our 


226  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

conquests  from  the  vegetable  world  have  to  a  great  extent 
so.  far  lost  their  original  character  that  we  can  no  longer 
determine  the  species  from  which  they  sprang.  Botanists 
cannot  find  the  wild  forms  which  have  given  us  the  cabbage, 
wheat,  and  most  other  small  grains,  and  a  host  of  other 
important  varieties.  So,  too,  the  origin  of  our  dogs  is  as  yet 
unsolved  and  bids  fair  ever  to  remain  a  mystery.  In  addition 
to  this  changed  character  which  we  observe  in  the  forms  of 
domesticated  animals  and  plants  alike,  we  note  that  the 
mental  characteristics  of  the  former  undergo  vast  alterations. 
The  creatures,  in  a  way,  take  the  tone  of  civilization,  and 
to  a  great  extent  abandon  those  ancient  habits  of  fear  and 
rage  which  were  essential  to  their  life  in  the  wilderness. 
The  intellectual  condition  of  our  dogs  shows  us  that  the 
creatures  may  be  progressively  educated — in  a  word,  that 
man  may  put  into  them  something  of  his  human  quality. 
In  the  case  of  the  dog,  the  longest  possessed  and  most 
familiar  to  our  households  of  all  our  captives,  the  mental 
change  which  has  come,  partly  by  selection,  from  associ- 
ation with  man  has  gone  so  far  that  the  species  may  be 
fairly  said  to  have  replaced  its  pristine  motives  with  those 
which  it  has  derived  from  ourselves.  In  many  cases  it 
has  become,  so  far  as  its  ways  are  concerned,  even  more 
man  than  dog. 

Although  the  physical  and  mental  educability  of  animals 
when  brought  into  companionship  with  man  is  an  old  subject 
of  remark,  and  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  which  they 
exhibit,  it  was  not  until  the  doctrine  of  descent  by  variation 
of  species  from  other  related  forms  became  established,  that 
we  had  a  chance  to  see  the  vast  possibilities  of  accomplish- 
ment which  are  presented  to  us  by  our  domesticated  creat- 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  DOMESTICATION  227 

ures.  It  is  true  that  the  breeder's  art  is  old  and  that  men 
have  felt  the  subjugated  animals  to  be  almost  like  clay  in  the 
potter's  hands,  but  except  in  a  small  and  rather  careless  way 
with  the  dogs,  little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  intelligence  of  these  captives.  The  success  which 
we  have  obtained  with  this  animal  has  been  accomplished  by 
a  selective  process,  but  one  which  has  been  almost  as  blind  in 
its  operation  as  the  choice  which  acts  in  the  natural  world. 
For  thousands  of  years  men  have  preferred  the  dogs  which 
manifested  a  sympathy  with  them,  and  the  result  is  a  creature 
which,  though  derived  from  a  very  brutal  ancestry,  has  in  its 
way  as  intense  affections  as  human  beings.  Now  and  then 
they  have  chosen  deliberately  to  develop  some  mental  pecul- 
iarity of  the  animal  which  would  be  of  service  in  hunting,  and 
the  effect  of  this  care  is  to  be  noted  in  the  considerable 
variety  and  perfection  of  mental  development  which  the 
sporting  dogs  exhibit.  In  the  main,  however,  the  interest  of 
our  dog  fanciers  has  been  limited  to  the  physical  features  of 
the  species  ;  nothing  like  a  deliberate  effort  to  ascertain  how 
far  the  development  of  their  mental  parts  could  be  carried 
has  ever  been  essayed.  In  no  other  field  of  human  endeavor 
of  anything  like  equal  importance  has  there  been  so  little 
understanding  applied  to  the  tasks. 

Now  that  we  are  beginning  to  know  something  of  the 
laws  of  inheritance,  it  is  high  time  for  us  deliberately  to  con- 
sider what  our  relations  to  the  organic  world  are  hereafter 
to  be,  and  how  we  can  guide  ourselves  in  these  relations  by 
the  light  of  modern  learning.  It  is  in  the  first  place  clear 
that  the  subjugation  of  the  earth  which  necessarily  accom- 
panies the  development  of  civilization,  inevitably  tends  to 
sweep  away  a  large  part  of  the  organic  life  which  is  not 


228  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

adopted  and  protected  by  man.  Already,  with  the  mere 
beginnings  of  this  culture,  we  find  that  several  of  the  large 
beasts  and  birds  and  a  number  of  plants  have  been  destroyed. 
New  as  civilization  is  on  this  continent,  it  has  already  brought 
the  moose  and  the  buffalo  to  a  point  where  they  are  on  the 
verge  of  extinction,  and  in  the  Old  World  the  wild  ancestors 
of  the  horse  and  the  bull  have  quite  disappeared  from  the 
wildernesses.  Within  a  few  centuries  the  greater  birds,  the 
Dinornis  and  Epiornis,  as  well  as  the  interesting  Dodo,  have 
vanished  from  the  southern  isles  which  they  inhabited.  In  the 
century  to  come  we  can  foresee  that  this  process  of  effacement 
of  the  ancient  life  will  go  on  with  accelerated  velocity. 

It  seems  inevitable  that  man  should  play  the  part  of  a 
destroyer.  It  is  his  place  to  break  down  the  ancient  order 
determined  by  what  we  call  natural  forces  and  in  its  stead  to 
set  a  new  accord  in  which  the  economy  of  the  earth  will  be  in 
a  great  measure  controlled  by  his  intelligence.  Even  those 
who  most  keenly  sympathize  with  the  wilderness  life,  are  not 
likely  to  object  to  the  changes  which  are  necessary  to  open 
the  way  for  this  new  dispensation.  They  may  fairly  ask,  how- 
ever, that  hereafter  the  displacement  of  the  ancient  life  shall 
be  brought  about  with  foresight  and  with  the  exercise  of  the 
utmost  care  in  minimizing  the  sacrifices  which  we  are  called 
on  to  make.  Naturalists  may  fairly  ask  men  to  remember 
that  each  of  these  species  which  we  are  forced  to  destroy 
represents  the  toil  and  pains  of  unimaginable  ages,  and  that 
when  these  creatures  are  swept  away  they  can  never  be  recov- 
ered. Whatever  new  species  may  come,  by  processes  of 
evolution  from  the  life  which  remains  after  we  have  done  our 
will  with  the  wilderness,  we  shall  never  see  again  the  forms 
which  have  passed  away. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  229 

It  is  the  worst  feature  of  the  destruction  which  man  is 
bringing  upon  the  organic  species  that  the  assault  is  most 
effective  on  those  varieties  which  are  most  interesting  both 
from  an  intellectual  and  an  economic  point  of  view.  To  take 
only  the  case  of  the  great  birds  which  have  recently  been 
swept  from  the  earth,  we  see  clearly  that  we  have  with  them 
lost  precious  opportunities  for  enlarging  our  understanding 
of  nature  and  have  at  the  same  time  been  deprived  of  the 
chance  to  domesticate  creatures  which  would  most  likely  have 
proved  of  much  economic  value.  With  each  of  these  species 
which  disappears  we  lose  what  may  be  a  precious  chance  of 
adding  to  the  small  store  of  animals  or  plants  which  may 
contribute  to  the  well  being  of  our  kind.  These  considera- 
tions make  it  plain  that  it  is  our  duty  by  our  civilization,  to 
do  all  in  our  power  to  save  these  species  and  at  the  same 
time  to  essay  their  domestication,  for  only  when  under  the 
protection  of  man  can  they  be  regarded  as  insured  from 
destruction. 

The  task  of  bringing  wild  creatures  into  our  domestic 
fold  is  one  of  very  varied  difficulty.  Many  plants  are  easily 
reconciled  to  the  conditions  of  our  fields  and  gardens:  they 
may  be  said  to  welcome  the  care  of  man  which  insures  them 
some  protection  from  the  fierce  contention  with  other  life  or 
with  the  elements  to  which  they  are  exposed  in  their  natural 
conditions.  Only  here  and  there  is  it  necessary  by  careful 
breeding  to  develop  domesticated  habits  to  the  point  where 
the  forms  will  endure  culture.  Where  the  task  is,  however, 
to  make  avail  of  some  natural -peculiarity  which  promises  to 
be  useful,  but  is  not  yet  of  economic  value,  it  may  require  a 
hundred  generations  of  careful  selection  to  develop  and  fix 
desirable  features.  We  are,  however,  in  all  cases  sure  in 


230  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

these  half-animate  species,  the  plants,  that  they  will  prove 
perfectly  obedient  to  our  will.  It  is  otherwise,  however,  with 
wild  animals.  Here  we  have  to  deal  with  intelligences  in 
which  the  most  striking  characteristic  is  an  abiding  fear  of 
the  master,  and  a  general  indisposition  to  submit  to.  any  other 
control  than  that  of  their  native  wild  instincts.  The  measure 
in  which  this  wilderness  habit,  bred  of  long  contention  ^.ith 
enemies,  prevails  in  animals  varies  greatly.  Some,  as  for 
instance  the  elephant,  at  once  reconcile  themselves  to  human 
association,  and  directly  on  being  made  slaves  accept  the 
mastery  of  their  captors.  Others,  such  as  the  zebra,  remain 
for  a  lifetime  possessed  of  their  original  savage  nature.  A 
large  part  of  the  labor  which  has  been  given  to  the  work  of 
domesticating  by  the  breeder's  art  the  score  of  mammalian 
species  which  man  has  won  to  his  use  has  been  devoted  to 
this  task  of  expelling  the  wilderness  motives  from  these  forms. 
The  cases  in  which  he  has  failed  to  accomplish  this  end  are 
those  in  which  the  savage  humor  has  persisted  for  so  long  a 
time  that  he  has  been  forced  to  abandon  his  effort  to  subdue 
the  stock. 

It  seems  likely  that  at  the  present  time  we  have  acquired 
from  the  wilderness  nearly  all  the  animals  which  are  capable 
of  adoption  by  such  brief  and  individual  experiments  as  have 
won  to  us  the  species  which  constitute  our  flocks  and  herds. 
Our  future  gains  will  have  to  be  made  by  far  more  deliberate 
and  continuous  endeavors.  These  tasks  of  the  hereafter  will 
have  to  be  undertaken  in  a  way  which  will  insure  a  continuity 
of  effort  such  as  can  only  be  attained  by  permanently  organ- 
ized associations  which  may  continue  their  essays  if  needs  be 
for  centuries.  The  work  should  be  done  with  two  distinct 
ends  in  view:  first,  to  determine  what  members  of  the  wilder- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  231 

ness  life  may  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  needs  of  man; 
and,  second,  how  far  it  is  possible  so  to  develop  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  lower  animals  in  general  as  to  make  them 
better  fitted  for  companionship  with  our  kind.  This  last- 
named  line  of  experiments  needs  to  be  undertaken  not 
only  with  reference  to  varieties  now  wild,  but  also  upon 
our  most  domesticated  forms,  for,  as  before  remarked,  we 
have  not  begun  to  explore  the  possibilities  of  intellectual 
gain,  even  in  those  species  which  have  been  the  longest 
associated  with  us. 

In  considering  a  list  of  the  creatures  which  might  well 
be  made  the  subjects  of  trial  with  a  view  to  their  domestica- 
tion, we  find  ourselves  at  once  embarrassed  by  the  exceeding 
wealth  of  our  opportunities.  It  is  impossible  within  the 
limits  of  this  article  to  treat,  even  in  the  catalogue  way,  a 
vast  number  of  forms  which  commend  themselves  -for  ex- 
periment. Something  of  the  richness  of  the  field,  however, 
may  be  judged  by  noting  some  of  the  more  conspicuous 
forms,  as  we  shall  now  proceed  to  do.  Beginning  with  the 
insects,  the  lowest  forms  in  the  animal  series  which  have 
proved  in  any  sense  domesticable,  we  note  that  wide  as  is 
this  realm  of  life  it  offers  but  few  opportunities  such  as  the 
domesticator  seeks.  Of  the  million  or  more  species  in  the 
group,  only  two,  the  honey-bee  and  the  silkworm,  have  been 
won  to  man's  use,  and  there  is  not  another  wild  form  which 
the  naturalist  can  suggest  as  likely  to  prove  a  valuable  cap- 
tive. The  only  use  which  we  are  probably  to  find  for  these 
creatures  is  where,  by  some  form  of  culture,  we  may  induce 
predatory  or  parasitic  species  more  effectively  to  do  their 
destructive  work  on  noxious  forms  of  the  class.  So  well 
fitted  is  this  group  for  purposes  of  self-defence  that  however 


232  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

much  man  may  interfere  with  the  course  of  nature,  he  is  not 
likely  to  sweep  any  of  their  multitudinous  kinds  from  the 
earth,  though  experience  clearly  shows  that  by  the  methods 
above  mentioned  they  may  be  greatly  reduced. 

It  is  among  the  vertebrate  forms  alone  that  we  find 
animals  which  by  their  characteristics  of  body  or  of  mind 
are  well  fitted  to  have  an  economic  or  social  value.  There 
alone  are  the  qualities  of  flesh  or  of  the  external  covering 
such  as  to  make  them  in  a  high  measure  valuable,  and  the 
instincts  of  a  nature  to  fit  them  for  association  in  man's 
work.  Even  among  these  back-boned  animals  we  find  that 
the  lower  groups — the  fishes,  the  amphibians,  and  the  rep- 
tiles— promise  little  in  the  way  of  gains  as  compared  with 
the  higher  groups,  the  birds  and  mammals  ;  yet  even  among 
these  inferior  creatures  we  find  certain  forms  which  give 
promise  of  improvement  under  the  care  of  man.  Some  of 
the  fishes  readily  learn  to  come  to  any  one  from  whom  they 
may  expect  food,  and  they  indicate  in  other  ways  that  they 
are  capable  of  a  certain  intellectual  advance.  The  frogs  and 
toads  readily  learn  to  recognize  a  master.  Several  of  the 
larger  members  of  the  first-named  forms  could  advanta- 
geously be  bred  so  as  to  be  very  useful  as  food.  The  com- 
mon hop  toad  of  our  gardens  is  an  admirable  helper  in 
restraining  the  excessive  development  of  certain  slugs  and 
insects.  The  tortoises  and  turtles  contain  a  number  of  spe- 
cies which  are  edible,  and  many  of  the  forms  invite  the 
breeder's  care.  It  is,  however,  when  we  ascend  in  the  type 
of  vertebrates  to  the  level  of  the  birds  that  we  find  the 
great  array  of  creatures  which  are  worth  considering  as 
members  of  our  civilization. 

Nearly  all  the  birds  except  those  of  prey  and  those  which 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  233 

haunt  the  seas  can  easily  be  accustomed  to  man.  A  few  of 
these  species  which  have  been  reduced  to  captivity  have  not 
become  sufficiently  reconciled  to  the  unnatural  conditions 
to  maintain  their  breeding  habits.  Even  in  these  cases,  how- 
ever, it  seems  likely  that  in  spacious  aviaries,  at  least  in 
climates  to  which  they  are  accustomed,  it  will  be  possible 
to  secure  the  continuous  reproduction  of  the  kind,  on  which 
all  development  by  the  breeder's  art  depends. 

The  ease  with  which  most  birds,  except  those  of  prey, 
may  be  reduced  to  domestication  is  due  to  the  remarkable 
intensity  of  their  sympathetic  motives.  In  this  regard  the 
class  is  much  more  advanced  than  that  of  the  mammalia 
to  which  we  ourselves  belong.  Accustomed  as  they  are  to 
ceaseless  and  active  intercourse  with  each  other  by  means 
of  their  varied  calls,  largely  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  atten- 
tion, and  provided  with  fairly  retentive  memories,  the  birds 
are,  on  the  average,  nearer  in  the  qualities  of  their  intelli- 
gence to  man  than  are  many  of  the  species  in  his  own 
class.  It  was  long  ago  remarked  that  the  birds  of  remote 
islands,  such  as  the  Galapagos,  which  had  never  seen  man, 
were  at  first  not  in  the  least  afraid  of  him.  It  required,  how- 
ever, but  a  few  generations  of  experience  to  show  these  creat- 
ures that  the  unfeathered  biped  was  a  singularly  dangerous 
animal,  and  they  at  once  and  permanently  adopted  the  habit 
of  avoiding  him.  This  incident  of  itself  shows  how  quick 
birds  are  to  learn  certain  large  and  important  lessons.  We 
see  also  the  reverse  of  this  education  in  fear  in  the  rapid  way 
in  which  birds  become  tame  when  they  are  secured  from  per- 
secution. Wherever  shooting  is  stopped  over  a  considerable 
territory  the  birds  rapidly  become  more  tolerant  of  man's 
presence.  Even  among  migratory  species  the  individuals 


234  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

appear  to  learn  that  certain  places  where  they  are  protected 
may  be  resorted  to  with  safety. 

Because  of  their  freedom  of  flight  it  is  in  all  cases  difficult 
to  bring  our  perching  birds  into  such  relations  with  the  dom- 
iciles of  man  that  they  can  be  truly  domesticated.  The  suc- 
cess, however,  which  has  been  attained  in  the  case  of  the 
pigeons,  which  have  been  so  far  made  captive  by  the  change 
of  their  instincts  that  they  never  depart  far  from  their  cotes, 
seems  to  indicate  that  this  tendency  again  to  go  wild  is  by  no 
means  ineradicable.  In  other  instances  it  will  probably  dis- 
appear as  it  has  in  this  by  long-continued  care  in  breeding. 
Our  successes  with  the  geese,  ducks,  and  swans,  all  of  which 
belong  to  genera  characterized  by  the  migratory  habit,  show 
how  readily  in  the  course  of  time  the  old  native  instincts  may 
be  subordinated  to  the  will  of  man.  Although  the  degree  of 
the  difficulty  which  will  be  encountered  in  taming  many  wild 
forms  may  be  far  greater  than  that  which  has  been  met  in 
those  which  we  have  domesticated,  there  is  no  reason  what- 
ever to  believe  that  in  any  case  it  will  be  insuperable. 

While  all  the  creatures  of  the  wilderness  may  by  the 
breeder's  art  be  induced  to  vary  in  the  conditions  of  captivity, 
the  birds  have  shown  themselves  more  plastic  in  our  hands 
than  any  other  animals.  In  almost  every  brood  we  find  indi- 
viduals possessing  marked  peculiarities  of  form  or  plumage. 
In  their  mental  qualities  also  there  is  a  like  range  of  varia- 
tion. Seizing  upon  these,  the  fancier  can  guide  the  quick 
succeeding  generations  so  as  to  cause  the  form  to  depart  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years  very  far  from  its  original  aspect. 
With  each  step  in  this  succession  of  changes  the  readiness 
with  which  the  species  responds  to  selective  care  increases. 
The  results  which  have  been  attained  in  our  barnyard  fowl 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  DOMESTICATION  235 

and  with  the  pigeons  show  how  admirably  these  creatures  are 
fitted  to  obey  the  will  of  man  when  he  has  a  mind  to  take 
charge  of  their  destiny. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  conquests  which  we  have  yet  to  make 
among  the  birds  will  be  won  from  the  species  which  have  the 
habit  of  dwelling  mainly  or  altogether  upon  the  ground. 
These,  as  experience  shows,  can  be  more  readily  brought  to 
the  uses  of  man  than  the  species  which  are  free  by  their 
strong  wings  to  wander  through  the  realms  of  air.  There 
are  very  many  of  these  ground  birds  the  domestication  of 
which  has  never  been  fairly  essayed.  There  are  perhaps  a 
hundred  species  which  in  one  part  of  the  world  or  another 
might  afford  .valuable  additions  to  our  resources,  those  of 
ornament  or  of  economy,  and  yet  within  three  centuries  only 
one  of  these,  the  turkey,  has  been  brought  to  the  domesticated 
state.  The  greater  part  of  our  game  birds,  such  as  the  quail, 
pheasants,  and  partridges,  though  they  appear  on  slight  ex- 
periments to  be  untamable,  could  probably  by  continuous 
effort  be  reduced  to  perfect  domestication.  For  ages  they 
have  been  harried  by  man  in  a  manner  which  has  insured  a 
great  fear  of  his  presence.  We  have  indeed  through  our 
hunting  instituted  a  very  thorough-going  and  continuous 
system  of  selection  which  has  tended  to  affirm  in  these  creat- 
ures an  intense  fear  of  our  kind.  Only  the  more  timorous 
have  escaped  us,  and  year  after  year  we  proceed  to  remove 
with  the  gun  the  individuals  which  by  chance  are  born  with 
any  considerable  share  of  the  primitive  tolerance  of  man's  pres- 
ence. It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  chicks  of  these  species 
will  at  once  accept  relations  with  our  kind.  The  domestica- 
tion of  many  of  these  forms  is  to  be  desired,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  excellent  quality  of  their  flesh,  but  because  of 


236  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

their  beauty  and  the  charm  which  their  quick  intelligences 
afford  them.  Whoever  has  watched  them  in  their  care  of 
their  young  or  their  other  social  habits  has  observed  features 
which  indicate  a  possible  development  under  domestication 
perhaps  greater  than  that  which  we  have  attained  in  any 
other  of  our  feathered  captives. 

It  seems  most  important  that  experiments  in  the  further 
domestication  of  birds  should  be  first  addressed  to  certain 
large  ground  forms  which  .are  now  in  more  or  less  danger  of 
extinction.  The  newly  instituted  industry  of  ostrich  farming 
has  probably  insured  this  the  noblest  remnant  of  the  old 
avian  life  from  destruction  ;  but  the  emu  and  the  cassowary 
are  still  among  the  diminishing  and  endangered  forms  which 
unless  taken  into  the  human  fold  are  likely  soon  to  pass  away. 
The  brush  turkey  and  the  bower  bird  of  Australia,  two  of  the 
most  curious  inhabitants  of  that  realm  of  strange  life,  appear 
to  have  qualities  of  mind  and  body  which  would  make  them 
readily  domesticable  and  which  would  cause  them  to  be 
among  the  most  interesting  of  our  feathered  captives. 

Among  the  aquatic  birds  there  are  many  species  which  are 
as  promising  subjects  for  domestication  as  any  which  have 
been  made  captive  ;  these  if  subjugated  would  prove  great 
additions  to  our  resources  of  ornament  and  use.  Thus  the 
eider  duck,  so  well  known  for  its  wonderful  soft  down  which 
is  plucked  from  the  breast  to  make  a  covering  for  the  eggs, 
though  a  marine  species,  would  prove  domesticable  at  least 
on  the  seashore  of  high  latitudes.  There  are  many  other 
varieties  of  the  family,  such  as  the  canvas-back  which  is  so 
highly  esteemed  for  its  flesh,  that  would  likewise  afford  very 
interesting  subjects  for  experiment. 

The  wading  birds  are  characteristically  very  wild  and  range 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  237 

over  a  wide  field  ;  yet  the  flamingoes,  the  herons,  and  their 
kindred  could  probably  be  brought  into  at  least  as  near 
an  approach  to  reconciliation  with  man  as  their  relations 
the  storks.  The  comfortable  relations  which  have  been 
established  between  the  last-named  species  and  humankind 
in  northern  Europe  is  probably  in  nowise  due  to  the  pecul- 
iarly tamable  nature  of  the  bird,  but  rather  to  the  fact 
that  certain  superstitious  fancies  on  the  part  of  the  feather- 
less  biped  led  him  to  protect  the  feathered  visitor  of  his 
roofs  and  chimneys.  Should  it  be  desirable  to  break  up 
the  habit  of  migration  in  these  or  other  birds  which  are 
now  accustomed  to  range  up  and  down  the  meridians,  there 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  change  could  be  accom- 
plished with  the  same  ease  that  it  has  been  in  the  case  of 
the  tamed  geese  and  swans.  Experience  has  shown  that 
with  these  forms,  which  probably  have  not  been  associated 
with  men  for  more  than  three  or  four  thousand  years,  the 
migratory  instinct,  which  appears  one  of  the  strongest  of 
motives,  has  utterly  disappeared.  Not  only  do  they  no 
longer  heed  the  cries  of  the  wild  birds  of  their  kind  as  they 
fly  away  on  their  annual  journeys,  but  they  have,  through 
the  changes  in  form  induced  by  their  quiet  life,  lost  the 
power  to  rise  far  above  the  earth.  They  are  even  more 
effectively  tamed  than  are  their  captors. 

Owing  to  their  singularly  perfect  protection  against  the 
cold,  and  also  perhaps  to  the  quickness  of  their  wits,  birds 
are  more  readily  transferable  from  one  clime  to  another 
than  are  any  other  animals.  The  feathered  tenants  of  our 
barnyards  are,  except  perhaps  the  aquatic  species  and  the 
turkey,  all  from  the  tropical  realm.  Experiments  with  various 
other  wild  forms  go  to  show  that  there  are  very  many  other 


238  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

tropical  species  which  will  prove  to  have  an  equal  tolerance 
of  high  latitudes.  If  this  be  true  we  may  fairly  look  to  the 
domestication  of  the  varied  bird  life  of  the  equatorial  regions 
for  the  enrichment  of  our  northern  lands.  Even  when  it 
may  not  be  desirable  to  bring  these  species  to  the  state  of 
complete  subjugation  they  may  be  introduced  on  something 
like  the  terms  which  have  been  given  and  accepted  in  the  case 
of  the  so-called  English  pheasant,  which  has  brought  to  the 
high  north  of  Britain  and  some  parts  of  this  country  an 
element  of  grace  which  is  afforded  by  no  indigenous  form 
of  North  America  or  Europe.  There  are  hundreds  of  beau- 
tiful tropical  species  which  await  reconciliation  with  men  ; 
they  have  that  quality  of  sympathy  which  affords  the  nat- 
ural foundations  for  the  contract,  but  this  has  in  no  case 
been  availed  of  except  when  the  creatures,  in  addition  to 
their  aesthetic  charm,  have  possessed  some  economic  value. 
There  as  elsewhere  in  the  matter  of  domestication  the  com- 
mercial motive  has  controlled  our  action. 

In  forming  our  societies  as  we  are  in  time  to  do,  account 
must  be  taken  of  the  sympathetic  value  of  its  elements, 
reckoning  among  these  the  animals  which  the  system  brings 
in  contact  with  men.  Much  of  the  culture  which  has  served 
to  lift  our  race  above  its  ancient  savagery  has  been  derived 
from  the  influence  of  domesticated  animals  ;  in  proportion 
as  these  creatures  have  sympathetically  responded  to  our 
care  we  have  been  thereby  educated  and  our  spiritual  devel- 
opment advanced.  So  far  as  in  our  further  choice  of  animals 
which  are  to  be  associated  with  ourselves  we  are  guided 
by  a  desire  to  extend  this  work,  we  may  well  turn  our 
attention  towards  the  birds,  for  in  that  group  we  may  find  a 
greater  number  of  species  which  have  attained  the  physical 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION 


239 


beauty  which  attracts  and  the  mental  qualities  which  may 
endear  them  to  mankind.  They  can  give  us  nothing  that 
can  ever  come  so  close  to  us  as  the  dog — the  unique  gift 
of  the  wilderness — but  they  may  afford  a  host  of  forms  to 
enrich  our  lives. 

The  mammals,  because  they  are,  in  qualities  of  body  and 
mind,  nearer  to  us  than  the  members  of  any  other  class  of 
animals,  afford  the  most  promising  field  from  which  to  make 
selections  for  future  domestication.  In  an  economic  sense 
it  seems  unlikely  that  any  very  great  profit  can  be  attained  by 
the  subjugation  of  any  of  the  mammalian  species  which  are 
still  wild.  Civilized  people  have  been  so  long  in  contact  with 
the  life  of  all  the  continents,  and  have  ever  been  so  hungry 
for  gain,  that  they  have  already  essayed  about  every  experi- 
ment in  subjugating  the  larger,  wild  beasts  which  appears 
to  be  very  promising.  Still  there  are  certain  cases  where 
there  have  been  no  trials  and  others  where  the  failure  to 
tame  particular  species  has  been  due  to  hindrances  which 
systematic  labor  may  possibly  overcome.  It  will  therefore 
be  well  to  glance  at  the  array  of  the  wild  forms  which 
afford  some  prospect  of  success  in  the  hereafter,  including 
under  the  title  of  successes  those  kinds  which  may  contri- 
bute not  only  to  immediately  measurable  wealth,  but  the 
aesthetic  satisfactions  as  well. 

Beginning  with  the  lowlier  group  of  mammals  we  find 
in  the  base  of  the  series  the  ornithorhynchus  and  its  allies, 
creatures  which  have  nothing  to  recommend  them  but  their 
exceeding  organic  peculiarities  that  render  them  attractive 
to  the  naturalist,  but  which  are  not  likely  to  win  them  a 
place  in  the  affections  of  men  in  general.  As  these  species 
are  most  inoffensive  as  well  as  interesting,  and  as  they 


240  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

are  now  confined  to  a  portion  of  Australia,  they  might  well 
be  made  the  subject  of  some  human  care  which  would  stop 
short  of  domestication.  They  might  be  transplanted  to 
other  continents  and  thereby  given  a  larger  field  for  variation 
as  well  as  a  chance  to  exhibit  their  features  in  a  wider  field. 
Among  the  pouched  mammals,  especially  in  the  species  of 
kangaroo,  there  are  forms  which  commend  themselves  as 
very  fair  subjects  for  taming.  They  are  of  considerable 
size,  their  flesh  is  palatable,  and  their  hides  useful  for  leather  ; 
they  breed  rapidly,  live  on  a  poor  herbage,  and  are,  for  wild 
animals  of  like  strength,  very  inoffensive.  Moreover,  though 
relatively  invariable  both  in  mind  and  body,  they  exhibit 
sufficient  individual  peculiarities  to  indicate  that  the  breeder's 
art  could,  in  a  short  time,  bring  about  considerable  changes 
such  as  have  been  effected  in  other  species,  changes  that 
would  increase  the  value  of  these  animals.  As  far  as 
aesthetic  or  sympathetic  relations  are  concerned,  the  pouched 
mammals  have  nothing  to  give  us  ;  they  are,  as  befits  their 
lowly  estate,  among  the  least  graceful  of  their  class  ;  they 
are  also  little  interesting  in  their  mental  qualities,  being 
about  the  stupidest  of  our  kindred. 

Among  the  ordinary  .herbivorous  mammals  there  are  sev- 
eral which  should  be  domesticable  which  have  not  yet  been 
properly  subjected  to  experiment  looking  to  that  end.  The 
American  bison,  commonly  but  improperly  termed  the  buf- 
falo, is  a  strong  creature,  one  which  is  easily  nourished.  In 
its  present  condition,  it  is  about  as  promising  a  subject  for 
the  breeder's  care  as  were  the  ancestors  of  our  horned  cattle. 
Although  there  have  been  sundry  trials  of  this  animal  as  a 
beast  of  burthen,  they  have  been  of  a  rude  as  well  as  a  brief 
kind,  no  care  having  been  taken  by  selection  to  improve 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  DOMESTICATION 


241 


the  qualities  which  evidently  commend  themselves  to  our 
use.  The  flesh  of  this  species  is  quite  as  good  as  that  of 
the  wild  bulls  of  the  genus  Bos,  and  the  hides  have  a  peculiar 
value  on  account  of  their  somewhat  woolly  character.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that,  bred  in  the  region  of  the  high 
north,  about  Lake  Saskatchewan  for  instance,  with  proper 
selection  this  hairy  covering  could  be  developed  much  as 
has  the  wool  on  the  sheep.  This  is  indicated  by  the  con- 
siderable variations  in  the  quality  of  the  coat  which  go  to 
show  that  the  feature  is  still  in  a  very  plastic  state,  a  state 
that  may  be  said  to  invite  the  assistance  of  man  in  order 
to  bring  it  to  the  full  measure  of  its  possibilities.  If  this 
covering  could  be  developed,  the  result  would  be  to  give 
us  a  domesticated  beast  of  large  size  with  a  hairy  covering 
having  the  character  of  a  fur  ;  such  would  be  a  great  addition 
to  our  resources. 

As  there  is  a  large  extent  of  country  in  the  high  latitudes 
of  North  America,  Asia,  and  South  America,  where  the 
climate  is  too  severe  and  the  herbage  too  scanty  to  serve 
the  needs  of  our  ordinary  cattle,  in  which  a  hardy  feeder 
with  a  well-clad  body  such  as  the  buffalo  might  do  well,  it 
seems  most  desirable  to  essay  the  experiment  of  domesticat- 
ing the  bison  before  it  is  too  late,  before  the  brutal  instincts 
of  our  kind  have  quite  made  an  end  of  the  noblest  animal 
which  is  native  in  the  Americas. 

There  is  another  inhabitant  of  the  high  north  of  this 
continent  which  deserves  the  notice  of  those  who  are  dis- 
posed to  attend  to  the  questions  concerning  the  extension 
of  man's  control  over  nature  ;  this  is  the  ovibos  or  musk-ox. 
Like  the  buffalo,  only  in  much  higher  measure,  this  singular 
creature  is  fit  for  very  cold  countries ;  his  fitness  being  in 


1 6 


242  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

part  assured  by  his  admirable  covering  of  long  hair  as  well 
as  by  his  capacity  for  taking  on  fat  during  the  short  summer 
in  sufficient  store  to  last  him  through  the  trials  of  the  winter 
season.  The  kinship  of  the  musk-ox  to  the  group  of  the 
sheep  is  near  enough  to  warrant  the  belief  that  the  hair 
could  be  improved  by  selection,  and  that  from  the  process 
we  would  be  likely  to  obtain  an  animal  much  larger  than 
our  largest  sheep  and  yielding  fleeces  of  peculiar  value  in 
the  arts. 

Among  the  northern  carnivora  there  are  several  species 
which  deserve  attention  for  the  reason  that  they  may  be 
brought  to  some  degree  of  domestication  which  may  enable 
us  to  make  better  use  of  their  hairy  coverings.  Among 
these  we  may  mention  the  foxes,  the  polar  bears,  and  the 
seals.  The  first-named  group  affords  at  present  about  the 
dearest  furs  of  our  markets.  The  silver-gray  variety,  which 
at  present  seems  to  be  a  frequent  individual  variation,  .could 
doubtless  be  affirmed  by  selection,  and  probably  could  be 
brought  to  a  higher  state  of  perfection  than  it  has  as  yet 
attained.  The  animals  are,  if  we  may  judge  from  their 
kindred,  not  untamable  ;  at  least  they  could  be  brought  to 
live  in  a  sufficient  state  of  captivity  to  permit  selection.  In 
time  they  might  be  quite  domesticated.  Many  of  the  islands 
of  the  high  north  and  south  are  well  fitted  for  such  experi- 
ments. 

As  is  well  known,  the  polar  bears  have  a  wonderfully 
developed  hairy  covering  ;  their  coats,  indeed,  are  among  the 
richest  that  exist.  These  animals  subsist  mainly  on  what 
they  capture  from  the  sea,  so  that  it  might  be  possible  to 
keep  them  at  a  small  expense.  They  are,  however,  of  all 
their  kindred  the  most  indomitable ;  it  would  probably 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  243 

require  a  long  and  costly  effort  to  reduce  them  to  anything 
like  domestication.  Moreover,  being  strong,  free  swimmers, 
it  would  not  be  easy  to  maintain  them  in  captivity.  Still, 
selecting  such  a  well-inundated  place  as  Bear  Island  of  the 
North  Atlantic,  it  would  be  most  interesting  to  make  the 
experiment,  first  of  accustoming  them  to  some  human  con- 
trol, and  then  to  a  selection  which  might  serve  to  lift  the 
quality  of  the  kind.  It  would  be  less  difficult  and  perhaps 
more  advisable  at  first  to  make  a  trial  of  a  similar 
sort  with  the  black  bear,  which  in  less  arctic  conditions 
flourishes  and  carries  a  fine  pelt.  The  only  difficulty  would 
be  in  finding  a  sufficient  supply  of  food  for  such  captives,  for 
although  they  will  eat  fish  they  have  no  skill  in  capturing 
them  such  as  is  possessed  by  their  more  degraded,  or  perhaps 
we  should  say  their  less  advanced  kindred,  the  polar  bears. 
Still,  as  the  form  is  even  more  omnivorous  than  man,  it  might 
be  practicable  to  feed  them. 

By  far  the  most  important  of  the  carnivora  in  an  economic 
sense  are  the  seals  which  dwell  in  the  high  northern  waters. 
These  creatures  afford  the  most  interesting  subjects  for 
experiments  in  domestication  from  an  economic  point  of 
view  that  remain  to  be  made.  Of  all  the  predatory  animals 
the  seals  seem  to  have  the  largest  share  of  intelligence  and 
the  greatest  amount  of  sympathetic  motives.  No  other  wild 
animals,  except  perhaps  the  monkeys,  appear  to  be  so  human- 
like in  their  qualities  of  mind  as  these  creatures  of  the  sea.  So 
far,  except  when  they  have  been  captured  and  kept  for  purposes 
of  show  in  menageries,  man's  relations  to  the  seals  have  been 
purely  destructive;  he  has  incessantly  .  hunted  them.  Yet 
certain  species  of  them  remain  singularly  willing,  we  may  say 
desirous,  of  claiming  friendship  with  their  persecutors.  As 


244  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

elsewhere  noted,  wounded  seals  behave  in  a  curiously  appeal- 
ing way  towards  their  assailants.  When  in  captivity  certain 
of  the  species  show  a  remarkable  friendliness  and  a  capacity 
to  receive  training.  No  other  wild  animals,  except  perhaps 
the  elephants,  exhibit  so  great  a  fitness  for  profiting  from 
contact  with  man. 

Although  our  knowledge  as  to  the  habits  of  seals  is  still 
very  imperfect,  it  appears  likely  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
species  have  the  habit  of  resorting  to  certain  places  during  the 
breeding  season,  and  that  the  individuals  after  the  manner  of 
certain  fishes  return  at  that  time  to  their  native  shore.  If 
this  be  true,  as  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  it  is,  it  should 
not  be  a  matter  of  grave  difficulty,  provided  the  maritime 
nations  would  abet  the  experiment,  to  establish  seal  colo- 
nies composed  of  the  several  promising  forms  at  fit  points 
in  the  circumpolar  seas.  There  is  reason  to  suppose  that 
with  ordinary  decent  treatment  the  animals  would  become  to 
a  great  degree  accustomed  to  men,  and  that  it  might  be  pos- 
sible to  accomplish  selection  enough  of  the  individuals  which 
were  left  to  breed,  to  develop  the  already  valuable  character- 
istics of  the  fur.  In  the  present  disgraceful  condition  of  our 
relations  to  these  animals  it  will  be  but  a  few  years  before  we 
shall  have  to  lament  the  extirpation  of  several  species,  includ- 
ing the  most  interesting  members  of  the  group. 

Looking  upon  the  questions  of  man's  future  on  the  earth 
in  a  large  way,  we  see  that  there  are  reasons  why  the  animals 
of  the  high  north,  particularly  those  which  obtain  their  food 
from  the  sea,  should  be  protected  from  extermination.  There 
is  a  great  are.a  of  country  in  that  part  of  the  world  which  is  not 
adapted  to  the  occupation  of  any  of  the  species  which  have  as 
yet  been  domesticated.  If  this  portion  of  the  world  is  ever 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  245 

to  prove  fruitful  in  other  ways  than  through  its  mineral 
stores,  it  will  be  by  the  creatures  which  are  adapted  to  its 
climate  and  other  conditions.  At  the  present  rate  of  increase 
in  numbers,  the  population  of  the  world  will,  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  centuries,  begin  seriously  to  press  upon  the 
resources  in  the  way  of  food  which  the  fields  of  the  tropical 
and  temperate  zones  can  supply  ;  the  chances  of  the  arctic 
regions  may  then  have  much  importance  to  our  successors. 
Moreover,  in  the  case  of  the  seals  we  find  the  peculiar 
advantage  that  the  animals  are  fed  entirely  from  the  sea,  so 
that  the  domestication  of  these  forms  would  give  to  man  a 
means,  the  like  of  which  he  has  never  possessed,  whereby  he 
would  be  enabled  to  harvest  the  food  resources  of  the  deep. 
The  beaver,  particularly  the  North  American  form,  offers 
a  most  attractive  opportunity  for  a  great  and  far-reaching 
experiment  in  domestication.  On  this  continent,  at  least,  the 
creature  exhibits  a  range  of  attractive  qualities  which  is 
exceeded  by  none  other  in  the  whole  range  of  the  lower 
mammalian  life.  No  other  mammal  below  man  shows  any- 
thing like  the  same  constructive  skill  in  the  contrivance  of  its 
habitations,  or  is  able  so  to  modify  its  habits  of  building  to 
meet  the  varied  needs  of  its  life.  When  this  country  was 
first  visited  by  man  near  one  half  of  its  area  was  occupied 
by  this  species.  It  built  its  dams  and  dwelling-places  and, 
when  necessary,  excavated  its  canals  along  all  the  lesser 
streams  in  the  timbered  regions  of  the  northern  districts.  As 
the  destructive  effects  of  civilization  increased,  the  animal  has 
gradually,  to  a  great  extent,  been  driven  away  from  its  old 
haunts,  and  where  it  remains  it  has,  as  the  price  of  life,  given 
up  its-  architectural  habits  and  betaken  itself  to  the  older  and 
simpler  mode  of  living  in  a  chance  manner  much  as  is  now 


246  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

the  habit  of  the  European  variety.  As  an  illustration  of  this 
I  may  note,  in  passing,  that  before  the  civil  war,  when  all 
the  recesses  of  the  forests  in  the  region  about  Richmond, 
Virginia,  had  for  more  than  a  century  been  industriously 
explored  by  hunters,  the  beaver  was  supposed  to  be  extinct 
in  the  district ;  yet  during  the  civil  war,  as  I  am  credibly 
informed,  a  colony  of  these  creatures  became  established 
near  the  town  of  Suffolk,  and  there,  amid  the  roar  of  a  great 
conflict  in  which  men  ceased  to  seek  the  lesser  game,  they 
recovered  their  habit  of  building  dams,  which  we  must 
believe  to  have  been  discontinued  for  many  generations. 
This  capacity  to  vary  action  with  reference  to  changing 
needs  is  the  best  possible  index  of  the  mental  power  of  ani- 
mals. Guided  by  the  exhibition  that  has  been  given  us  by 
the  beavers,  we  are  justified  in  considering  them  to  be  the 
one  group  of  mammals  which  has  gained  a  distinct,  rational 
constructive  power.  This  feature  makes  them  decidedly 
the  most  interesting  group  for  investigations  which  may 
be  expected  to  throw  light  on  the  problems  of  animal 
intelligence.  From  the  economic  point  of  view  the  spe- 
cies has  a  certain  importance  for  the  reason  that  it  affords 
one  of  the  most  valuable  kinds  of  fur  that  has  ever  been 
marketed. 

The  domestication  of  the  beavers  to  the  point  where  they 
would  tolerate  the  presence  of  man  should  not,  provided 
they  could  be  protected  against  the  depredations  of  poachers, 
be  a  matter  of  any  difficulty.  The  colonies  of  these  animals 
require  only  what  is  afforded  by  vast  realms  of  our  wilder- 
nesses^— flowing  streams  of  moderate  fall  with  timber  upon 
their  banks.  They  are  not  particular  as  to  the  species,  so 
that  swift-growing  kinds  of  trees  such  as  the  poplars  may 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION 


247 


be  made  to  serve  their  needs.  The  natural  growth  on  a 
hundred  acres  of  otherwise  worthless  land  would  probably 
be  sufficient  to  maintain  a  colony  of  average  size  containing 
say  twenty-five  individuals.  In  the  region  about  the  great 
lakes  and  for  some  distance  to  the  northward  and  to  the 
east  and  west  there  are  great  areas  amounting  in  the  aggre- 
gate to  some  hundred  thousand  square  miles  that  would 
apparently  be  well  suited  to  the  nurture  of  this  form,  and 
which  in  the  present  condition  of  the  country,  as  well  as  for 
the  immediate  future,  cannot  be  turned  to  better  use.  It  may 
be  remarked  that  the  domestication  of  the  beavers  would 
afford  yet  another  means,  in  addition  to  those  above  noted, 
whereby  we  might  be  able  to  win  some  profit  from  the  great 
wilderness  of  the  north,  which  is,  so  far  as  our  existing  means 
of  appropriating  its  resources,  of  little  use  to  mankind.  The 
only  evident  way  by  which  we  may  hope  to  win  profit  from 
this  part  of  our  continent  is  by  using  it  as  a  field  for  rearing 
animals  that  have  yet  to  be  subjugated  ;  none  of  our  captive 
varieties  are  fit  for  the  service. 

In  the  tropical  parts  of  the  world  there  are  many  mam- 
malian species  which  are  worthy  subjects  for  essays  in 
domestication.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  the  continent 
of  Africa  where,  except  in  the  lands  about  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Red  Sea,  the  native  peoples  have  never  attained  the 
stage  of  culture  in  which  men  become  strongly  inclined  to 
subjugate  wild  animals.  Africa  is  richer  in  large  herbivorous 
species  than  any  other  of  the  great  lands  ;  many  of  these 
forms  are  of  large  size  and  have  qualities  of  flesh,  of  hide, 
or  other  peculiar  features  which  promise  to  -make  them 
valuable  in  an  economic  way.  Others,  especially  the  ante- 
lopes, have  a  beauty  of  form  and  a  grace  of  movement  which 


248  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

render  them  among  the  most  attractive  creatures  of  their 
class.  Even  the  hippopotamus,  one  of  the  grossest  beasts  of 
this  realm,  affords  in  its  teeth  a  valuable  ivory,  and  its  hides, 
if  supplied  in  sufficient  quantity,  would  probably  find  a 
considerable  use.  It  is  evident  that  in  this  "dark  continent," 
where  the  influences  which  make  for  human  advancement 
have  been  so  slight,  we  have  the  best  field  for  the  selection 
of  species  that  may  hereafter  be  brought  to  the  use  of  man. 
There  is  evidently  danger,  in  the  advance  in  the  civilizing 
process,  that  the  native  forms  which,  owing  to  their  fitness  to 
the  physical  conditions  of  the  country,  might  be  made  useful 
to  its  people,  may  be  utterly  destroyed  by  hunters. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  the  tropical  beasts  from 
the  point  of  view  which  we  occupy  is  the  elephant.  This  ani- 
mal in  its  relations  to  men  is  eminently  peculiar,  in  that  while 
it  has  been  in  an  individual  way  long  and  completely  sub- 
jugated, it  has  never  been  systematically  reared  in  captivity. 
Owing,  it  may  be,  to  the  slow  growth  of  these  great  beasts, 
as  well  as  to  the  immediate  manner  in  which  they  submit  to 
their  captors,  it  has  ever  been  the  custom  to  take  them  when 
adult  from  the  wilderness.  The  result  is  that  the  supply 
of  the  Asiatic  species,  which  alone  is  serviceable — the  African 
form  being  apparently  too  fierce  for  use — is  now  dependent 
on  a  relatively  small  number  of  wild  herds.  Certain  of  these 
herds  are  protected  by  the  governments  of  India,  but  it 
seems  as  if  the  species  were  already  dangerously  near  the 
vanishing  point — in  a  position  where  the  invasion  of  some 
disease  or  some  insect  enemy  might  deprive  the  world  of  what 
is,  all  things  considered,  the  most  interesting  of  the  brutes. 
Moreover,  the  failure  to  rear  elephants  in  captivity  has  made 
it  impossible  to  essay  any  of  those  experiments  in  breeding 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  249 

which  have  done  so  much  to  improve  the  utility  and  the 
beauty  of  most  subjugated  forms., 

If  the  elephants  could  be  reared  in  captivity  there  is  little 
reason  to  doubt  that  with  a  few  centuries  of  selection  they 
might  be  made  to  vary  in  many  important  ways.  It  is  evident 
that  the  form  and  mental  quality  of  these  creatures  is  as 
plastic  as  those  features  in  the  other  domesticated  animals 
have  been  proved  to  be.  Moreover,  the  group,  though  it  is 
now  represented  by  but  two  recognized  species,  was  in  com- 
paratively recent  times  quite  rich  in  varieties,  a  fact  which 
raises  the  presumption  that  the  existing  kinds  are  open  to 
modification  by  the  selective  process.  As  the  elephant 
is  not  mature  until  it  is  near  thirty  years  old,  probably 
not  reproducing  until  about  that  age,  there  is  little  induce- 
ment for  any  person  to  undertake  the  process  of  breeding 
them  in  the  selective  way  ;  if  the  task  is  ever  done  it  will 
have  to  be  accomplished  by  government  action  or  by  that 
of  a  society  which  is  pledged  to  such  tasks.  If  the  effort 
to  bring  the  elephants  into  a  more  permanent  relation  with 
man  is  not  made  and  the  race  is  allowed  to  perish,  we  may 
be  sure  that  in  the  time  to  come  people  will  gravely  censure 
us  for  any  such  neglect  of  the  opportunities  which  this  world 
affords  as  would  be  involved  in  the  loss  of  this  noble  brute. 
It  is  clearly  our  duty  to  see  that  all  such  resources  are  pre- 
served for  the  inquirers  of  the  future. 

Among  the  other  tropical  mammals  which,  because  they 
have  not  as  yet  proved  of  economic  value,  are  on  account  of 
their  size  and  their  attractiveness  to  sportsmen  in  danger 
of  extinction,  we  may  note  the  various  species  of  rhinoceros, 
the  giraffe,  and  the  several  African  forms  which  are  akin 
to  the  horse.  None  of  these  forms  have  been  turned  to  use, 


250  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

none  of  them  appear  likely  to  be  adopted  by  man  for  the 
service  they  can  do  ;  but  they  are,  in  common  with  all  the 
host  which  cannot  be  mentioned  here,  of  great  interest  to 
the  naturalists  of  our  time.  Their  importance  in  the  inquiries 
which  are  hereafter  to  be  made  by  our  ever  expanding  science 
of  life  cannot  be  estimated.  It  certainly  will  not  be  possible 
to  overreckon  it  in  this  very  practical  age.  This  plea  for  the 
sparing  of  the  mammalian  species  in  no  case  needs  to  be 
made  so  strongly,  and  in  no  other  instance  is  so  well  entitled 
to  a  hearing,  as  when  it  is  raised  for  the  life  of  the  monkeys. 
These  interesting  animals  because  of  their  collateral  kinship 
with  man  afford  precious  evidence  as  to  the  stages  of  intel- 
lectual development  which  is  likely  to  be  of  exceeding  value 
to  students  in  that  field  of  inquiry.  There  is  unfortunately 
little  chance  that  any  of  the  monkeys  will  ever  prove  useful ; 
their  habits  are  such  that  they  are  generally  troublesome 
neighbors ;  moreover,  their  weakness  makes  it  easy  to  ex- 
terminate them.  The  result  is  that  some  species  have  prob- 
ably already  been  destroyed,  and  others  are  in  conditions 
where  during  the  next  century  they  are  likely  to  vanish.  In 
the  animate  realm  it  is  hard  to  choose  the  forms  which  are 
to  be  the  most  important  for  the  naturalists  of  the  time  to 
come,  but  it  is  certain  that  these  students  will  deplore  the 
loss  of  the  simian  life  and  charge  us  sorely  if  we  neglect  due 
effort  for  its  preservation. 

Although  the  matter  before  us  concerns  the  domestica- 
tion of  animals,  it  may  be  well  to  devote  a  little  attention  to 
the  question  of  the  wild  plants  which  need  protection  or 
which  promise  to  afford  unwon  values.  It  may  be  said  that 
plants  in  general  are  much  less  likely  than  animals  to  be  dis- 
turbed by  the  process  of  bringing  a  country  under  the  condi- 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  DOMESTICATION  251 

tions  of  civilization.  With  rare  exceptions  the  individuals  of 
each  species  are  so  numerous  that,  like  the  insects,  they 
escape  by  their  numbers  the  risk  of  the  extinction  of  their 
kinds.  Moreover,  the  ease  with  which  nearly  all  the  kinds 
can  be  brought  under  cultivation,  and  the  fact  that  they 
present  no  self-will  to  be  dominated,  makes  the  task  of  deal- 
ing with  them,  in  a  protective  way,  infinitely  easier  than  in 
the  case  of  animals.  So  far  as  we  know,  there  has  not  been 
an  instance  in  which  a  continental  species  of  plant  has  been 
exterminated  by  man,  while  there  are  a  number  of  the 
larger  animals  which  have  been  swept  away  apparently  by 
human  agency,  and  there  are  many  more  which  are  on  the 
verge  of  extinction.  Therefore,  so  far  as  the  plant  world  is 
concerned,  we  may  for  the  present  at  least  trust  the  spe- 
cies to  their  own  powers  to  maintain  them  against  the  rude 
assaults  of  civilization.  If  here  and  there  one  is  overrun  by  the 
wheels  of  our  economic  engines,  something  of  value  to  the 
student  is  lost,  but  the  loss  does  not  include  the  element 
of  mind  which  is  hereafter  to  be  the  subject  of  so  muclj 
study. 

The  foregoing  considerations  make  it  evident  that  the 
problem  of  domestication  shades  into  the  question  as  to  the 
preservation  of  the  life  which  is  now  on  the  earth,  and  this 
with  a  view  to  the  advantage  which  the  arts,  the  sciences,  or 
general  culture  may  obtain  from  the  preservation  of  the  use- 
ful, the  instructive,  and  the  beautiful  things  in  the  realm  of 
nature  from  the  swift  destruction  which  our  rude  subjugation 
of  the  earth  threatens  to  inflict.  To  deal  with  this  problem 
in  an  adequate  manner  we  must  ask  ourselves  what  limits  are 
to  be  set  to  the  displacement  of  the  ancient  order  which  is 
now  going  on.  We  see  that  wherever  civilization  enters,  and 


252  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

even  where  its  first  influences  are  felt,  the  olden  societies  of 
nature  are  disturbed  or  broken  up.  All  the  nobler  members 
of  these  associations,  the  greater  mammals,  many  of  the 
larger  birds,  and  a  host  of  the  lesser  forms,  are  expelled  or 
destroyed.  In  the  condition  of  organic  life  when  the 
supremely  predatory  creature  man  rose  to  domination,  the 
species  were  grouped  in  those  vast  organizations  which  were 
of  old  termed  faunae  and  florae,  but  which  are  now  better 
known  as  biological  fields  or  provinces.  In  each  of  these 
hosts  the  several  species  were,  as  regards  their  external  life, 
so  balanced  with  their  neighbors  that  the  assemblage  from 
the  point  of  view  of  these  relations  might  well  be  compared 
with  the  polities  or  states  of  man's  construction.  Such  an 
organic  society  represents  the  result  of  a  series  of  trials  and 
balances  which  began  to  be  made  in  the  immeasurably  remote 
past  and  have  been  continued  through  the  geologic  ages, 
each  age  adding  something  to  the  accord.  The  plants  give 
and  take  from  the  animals ;  the  insects  are  equated  with  the 
birds,  and  each  species  in  every  group  has  set  up  an  accord 
with  its  rivals.  From  time  to  time  the  host  has  by  the 
changes  of  sea  and  land  been  compelled  to  migrate,  moving 
this  way  and  that -to  find  its  fit  station.  In  these  move- 
ments species  are  rapidly  extinguished,  much  as  the  weaker 
soldiers  of  an  army  perish  in  forced  marches.  Into  their 
places  new  forms  hasten  to  take  their  place,  so  that  every 
position  of  advantage  is  filled.  At  a  less  rapid  rate,  but 
perpetually,  even  without  the  change  of  abode,  which  it  is 
often  by  climatic  changes  compelled  to  make,  the  organic 
host  is  slowly  changing  in  character;  old  kinds  give  way  in 
the  endless  contest  to  new  varieties  which  have  managed  to 
establish  a  better  relation  to  the  environment.  Still  the 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION 


253 


legions  press  on  towards  the  great  accomplishment  of  a 
higher  and  nobler  life. 

No  one,  however  well  he  may  conceive  the  nature  and 
history  of  the  organic  hosts  of  the  earth,  can  hope  to  convey 
to  the  general  reader  an  adequate  sense  of  their  majesty  or 
the  wonderful  part  they  have  played  in  the  history  of  the  life 
which  has  culminated  in  mankind.  The  largest  words  are 
freighted  with  too  little  meaning,  and  even  the  metaphors 
drawn  from  human  associations  fail  to  convey  a  sufficient 
picture  of  these  enduring  organizations  which  have  enabled 
living  beings  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  their  long  contest 
with  this  rude  world,  and  to  win  the  advance  they  have 
gained.  The  reader  will  have  to  tax  his  imagination  to  pic- 
ture, it  may  be,  a  quarter  of  a  million  species  dwelling  in  the 
same  field,  each  united  with  the  other  in  the  method  of 
exchange  in  such  a  way  that  the  withdrawal  of  any  one  form 
is  likely  in  some  measure  to  change  the  estate  of  every 
other.  In  some  cases  this  removal  of  one  species  means  the 
loss  of  the  life  of  many  and  perhaps  the  better  opportunity  of 
other  neighbors;  again,  the  influence  on  remoter  members 
of  the  society  may  be  so  slight  as  to  escape  detection.  Yet 
it  is  doubtful  if  the  slightest  change  in  the  .population  of  a 
biologic  province  can  be  brought  about  without  some  effect 
upon  all  the  members  of  the  society.  It  is  a  vast,  sensitive 
thing,  fit  to  be  compared  with  the  living  body  where  every 
cell  lives  in  accord  with  every  other  of  the  frame. 

So  long  as  the  organic  hosts  were  in  the  prehuman  stage 
the  maintenance  of  the  accord  was  easily  and  naturally 
attained.  Species  arose  and  perished,  each  in  turn  effecting  a 
simple  reconciliation  with  the  others,  grasping  only  so  much 
room  and  food  as  was  necessary  for  its  proper  support.  But 


254  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

with  the  coming  of  man,  the  species  which  by  its  swiftly 
progressive  desires  has  become  a  host  in  itself,  a  disturbing 
element  was  introduced  into  the  old  order.  Man  as  a  primi- 
tive savage  falls  into  the  natural  system  without  greatly  dis- 
turbing it ;  but  man  as  a  soil-tiller,  in  so  far  as  he  carries  out 
his  subjugative  work,  utterly  wrecks  the  ancient  establish- 
ments of  life.  To  attain  his  object  he  has  to  banish  from  the 
soil  nearly  all  the  plants  which  originally  belonged  upon  it, 
and  in  their  place,  with  or  without  intention,  he  introduces 
species  from  other  organic  provinces.  With  the  change  in 
plant-life  necessarily  goes  a  like,  or  even  a  greater,  alteration 
in  the  native  animals.  They  are  driven  into  the  wilderness 
or,  it  may  be,  extirpated.  The  reader  who  would  obtain  an 
idea  of  these  changes  will  do  well  to  study  the  invasions  of 
weeds  or  of  those  noxious  insects  which  in  the  economy  of  a 
civilized  country  may  be  likened  to  weeds.  These  pests  are 
in  nearly 'all  cases  invaders  which  owe  their  successes  to  the 
fact  that  our  treatment  of  the  regions  they  have  entered  has 
opened  vacancies  in  the  once  closed  ranks  of  the  indigenous 
host,  into  which  the  foreigners  are  free  to  enter.  In  the 
fresh  field  they  are  not  likely  to  find  enemies  which  by  long 
training  are  especially  fitted  to  cope  with  them,  and  so  they 
run  riot  and  contest  with  man  the  gains  he  has  won  from  the 
ancient  possessors  of  the  land. 

Of  all  the  large  questions  which  the  consideration  of  the 
future  of  man's  work  on  this  planet  opens  to  us,  there  is  none 
which  now  appears  to  be  more  serious  or,  in  its  consequences, 
more  far-reaching  than  this  concerning  the  treatment  which 
he  is  to  give  to  the  old  natural  order  of  sea  and  land.  The 
very  first  condition  of  civilization  is  an  utter  spoiling  of  that 
order,  so  far  as  the  land  areas  are  concerned,  in  the  fields  of 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  255 

the  richest  and  highest  life.  It  is  clearly  impossible  to  avoid 
this  destruction  over  all  the  surface  which  we  win  to  culture. 
Spare  as  we  may,  the  subversion  of  the  ancient  balances  and 
adjustments  must  be  complete  before  the  earth  is  ready  for 
our  tillage  and  other  modes  of  use.  This  overturning  is  a 
part  of  the  destiny  of  man.  It  is  a  characteristic  of  the  new 
dispensation  which  came  with  his  progressive  desires.  Yet 
the  rational  quality  which  has  led  to  the  mastery  of  man  may 
be  trusted  to  bring  him  to  a  point  where  he  will  endeavor  to 
minimize  the  ill  effects  of  his  actions  on  the  life  which  has 
been  placed  in  his  hands. 

In  considering  the  ways  in  which  we  can  mitigate  the 
evils  of  our  rule  over  organic  nature,  we  at  once  see  that  our 
aim  should  be  to  preserve  all  the  varieties  of  living  creatures 
from  destruction,  provided  they  are  not  distinctly  harmful 
to  man,  and  this  with  the  intention  of  keeping  for  our  suc- 
cessors in  the  inheritance  all  that  can  in  any  way  afford  a 
foundation  for  further  experiments  in  domestication,  materi- 
als for  learned  inquiries,  or  pleasure  in  contemplation.  To 
attain  this  object  we  cannot  trust  to  the  share  of  this  life 
which  can  be  brought  into  zoological  and  botanical  gardens, 
however  extensive  and  well  managed.  The  only  way  is  to 
make  certain  reservations  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  each 
containing  an  area  and  a  variety  of  conditions  great  enough 
to  afford  a  safe  lodgment  for  a  true  sample  of  the  life  of  an 
organic  province.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  these  provinces  are 
never  sharply  bounded,  it  would  naturally  be  impossible  to 
select  reservations  which  would  in  a  complete  manner  rep- 
resent all  the  conditions  of  the  biologic  societies ;  but  if 
properly  distributed  the  outlying  animals  and  plants  could 
in  most  if  not  all  cases  be  introduced  into  one  or  other  of 


256  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

these  protected  fields,  so  that  there  would  be  little  reason 
to  fear  that  any  important  part  of  the  existing  life  would 
be  lost. 

Owing  to  the  wise  forethought  of  our  American  people,  a 
practical  foundation  of  the  system  of  national  reservations 
has  been  instituted  in  our  so-called  national  parks.  Although 
these  reservations  were  established  to  preserve  to  the  public 
certain  natural  beauties  in  the  way  of  scenery  or  vegetation, 
or  to  secure  the  regimen  of  streams,  they  will,  if  properly 
guarded  against  depredations,  effect  the  end  which  we  have 
in  view.  Owing  to  their  large  area  and  somewhat  varied 
positions,  these  parks  provide  a  safe  refuge  for  a  great  part  of 
the  life  which  belongs  in  the  cordilleran  district  of  the  United 
States.  If  the  method  should  be  extended  to  the  whole 
country,  we  should  have  the  peculiar  satisfaction  of  having 
been  the  first  state  to  institute  the  system  of  preservation 
which  is  here  suggested. 

To  complete  a  system  of  reservations  designed  to  per- 
petuate the  aboriginal  life  of  this  country  would  require  the 
institution  of  about  a  dozen  other  similar  natural  shelters. 
It  would  not  be  necessary  to  have  these  on  as  large  a  scale  as 
that  of  the  Yellowstone.  In  most  cases  areas  of  from  ten  to 
twenty  thousand  acres  in  extent  would,  if  well  guarded,  suffice 
to  give  refuge  to  the  animals  and  plants  of  the  field  in  which 
it  lay.  The  selection  of  these  refuges  would  demand  much 
consideration.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  they  need  to 
include  at  least  two  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  which  might  also 
be  fitted  for  the  use  of  marine  birds  as  breeding  places,  one 
on  the  northern  part  of  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  another  in 
southern  Florida.  The  latter  might  serve  as  well  for  the 
protection  of  the  turtles  which  resort  to  that  shore  to  lay 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  257 

their  eggs.  Similar  coast  parks  should  be  established  on  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific.  Yet  other  closed  areas  would  be  needed 
in  the  interior,  the  evidently  desirable  fields  lying  in  the 
region  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  Adi- 
rondacks,  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina,  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  Mississippi  delta,  in  Arizona,  and  at  least  two 
points  in  Alaska  ;  one  of  these  should  afford  a  place  of  refuge 
for  the  persecuted  fur  seals  and  another  for  the  musk-ox. 

At  first  sight  it  may  seem  to  be  a  simple  matter  to  accom- 
modate the  wild  life  of  a  country  on  a  relatively  small  piece 
of  land.  So  far,  indeed,  as  the  plants,  the  insects,  and  the 
lesser  mammalian  life  are  concerned,  an  area  of  a  few  hun- 
dred acres  will  serve  very  well  for  their  safe  harborage,  but 
when  it  comes  to  protecting  the  larger  birds  and  mammals  we 
see  how  easily  the  natural  balance  of  life  is  by  some  chance 
influence  destroyed.  A  capital  instance  of  this  difficulty 
which  arises  when  preservation  is  essayed  on  small  areas  has 
recently  been  forced  on  my  attention.  In  Dukes  County, 
Massachusetts,  there  is  the  vanishing  remnant  of  an  interest- 
ing bird  known  from  the  island  to  which  it  is  limited  as  the 
Martha's  Vineyard  prairie  chicken.  It  is  closely  related  to 
its  better  known  Western  kinsman,  yet  is  a  distinct  variety. 
Although  the  form  has  apparently  developed  on  the  island 
and  once  abounded  there,  it  has  dwindled  in  numbers  until 
there  are  but  few  surviving.  In  the  hope  of  providing  a  safe 
refuge  for  the  remnant,  I  have  for  a  number  of  years  stopped 
all  shooting  on  a  tract  of  a  thousand  or  two  acres  which  is 

o 

well  fitted  to  supply  them  with  food  and  shelter.  As  they 
still  dwindled,  it  seemed  probable  that  the  foxes  were  harming 
them.  This  appeared  the  more  likely  for  the  reason  that  the 
fox  is  not  a  native  of  the  island,  but  was  introduced  a  few 

17 


258  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

years  ago  by  some  reckless  experimenters.  These  marauders 
were  cleared  away  without  good  results.  Further  inquiry 
made  it  apparent  that  the  real  enemy  of  these  birds  was  the 
feralized  domestic  cat  which  has  gone  wild  from  tKe  house- 
holds, especially  from  the  many  homesteads  that  have  been 
abandoned.  This  creature  has  bred  in  great  numbers  and  is 
now  threatening  the  existence  of  all  birds  that  rear  their 
broods  upon  the  ground.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  exterminate 
them,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  wary,  and  any  systematic 
hunting  of  them  would  prove  exceedingly  disturbing  to  the 
very  timid  birds.  The  result  is  that  nearly  all  these  birds  have 
left  my  land  for  certain  plains  near  by  which  are  covered  with 
scrub  oaks  and  where  there  is  too  little  ground  life  to  attract 
the  cats.  In  that  region,  though  it  has  an  area  of  about 
thirty  thousand  acres,  the  food  is  scanty ;  the  prairie  chickens 
dwelling  there  are  likely  to  perish  for  lack  of  the  rose-hips 
which,  in  the  hill  country  they  have  been  forced  to  desert, 
served  to  maintain  them  at  times  when  the  ground  was  cov- 
ered with  snow. 

The  lesson  which  may  be  drawn  from  the  experience 
above  stated  is  to  the  effect  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  pro- 
tected field  of  sufficient  area,  and  in  the  proper  conditions 
to  keep  the  balance  of  life  which  arises  from  the  exchange 
of  relations  between  species  in  their  normal  state.  Even 
in  ideal  reservations  where  all  invasions  are  excluded,  we 
should  have  to  expect  that  from  time  to  time  certain  forms 
would  disappear,  their  place  perhaps  being  taken  by  new 
species  which  would  arise.  Such  is  the  manner  of  the  great 
procession  of  life.  Probably  at  least  twenty  and  perhaps  a  hun- 
dred times  as  many  species  as  are  now  living  on  the  earth  have 
perished  from  it,  and  before  the  unimaginable  goal  is  attained 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  259 

as  many  others  may  pass  away.  Our  task  with  the  refuges 
would  be  to  keep  the  death  of  the  specific  inhabitants  to  the 
natural  and  wholesome  rate  that  is  determined  by  the  endless 
struggle  for  existence. 

It  is  impracticable  at  the  present  time  to  devise  a  scheme 
for  refuge  stations  in  other  countries  than  our  own  ;  it  is 
evident,  however,  that  these  would  have  to  be  numerous  and 
widely  distributed.  A  glance  at  a  map  showing  the  political 
distribution  of  the  lands  will  make  it  evident,  however,  that 
within  the  holdings  of  the  British,  French,  German,  Dutch, 
and  Russian  governments  there  are  large  areas  which  might, 
without  evident  loss  of  considerable  economic  values,  immedi- 
ate or  prospective,  be  turned  to  such  uses,  and  that  these 
reservations  would  probably  include  nearly  all  that  would 
be  required  to  preserve  the  most  important  samples  of  the 
primitive  life.  Some  of  them,  as  for  instance  those  intended 
to  retain  the  large  tropical  animals  in  their  natural  state, 
would  have  to  be  as  imperial  in  their  areas  as  the  Yellowstone 
Park,  but  these  would  lie  in  realms  which  have  no  present  value 
to  our  own  race  and  are  scantily  inhabited  by  the  indigenous 
peoples. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  proposed  world-wide  system  of 
wilderness  stations  in  which  the  native  life  should  be  preserved 
from  the  destructive  influences  of  man's  assault  upon  it  could 
not  be  brought  about  without  international  cooperation  and 
with  a  considerable  expenditure  of  money  both  for  the  founda- 
tion and  maintenance  of  the  establishments  ;  but,  as  before 
remarked,  the  idea  of  public  reservations  of  this  nature  is  one 
which  immediately  and  strongly  commended  itself  to  the  people 
of  this  country  and  has  led  their  representatives  to  set  aside  for 
such  use  lands  which  in  the  aggregate  amount  to  a  larger  area 


260  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

than  some  of  our  sister  states.  The  same  motive  is  seen  in 
the  action  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  a  few  years  ago 
created  a  Board  of  Trustees  of  Public  Reservations,  a  cor- 
porate body  authorized  to  hold  in  perpetuity  lands  which  are 
intended  to  serve  the  public  for  pleasure  and  instruction. 
The  recent  rapid  extension  of  the  park  systems  appertaining 
to  the  cities  of  this  country  and  Europe  is  a  further  illustra- 
tion of  the  same  motive  which  makes  for  the  object  which 
we  desire.  It  therefore  seems  not  unreasonable  to  hope  that 
very  soon  we  may  find  the  governments  of  the  greater  nations 
willing  to  go  forward  on  the  line  of  advance  in  which  our  own 
has  so  well  led  the  way.  At  the  right  time  the  United  States 
could  probably  do  much  to  further  the  matter  by  asking  for 
international  action  in  this  admirable  work.  There  is  hardly 
any  undertaking  which  would  afford  a  fairer  chance  for  friendly 
cooperation  among  the  great  states  than  this  which  looks 
forward  to  the  good  of  the  time  to  come. 

While  looking  forward  to  the  establishment  of  a  system 
of  sanctuaries  which  may  serve  to  protect  examples  of  the 
present  life  of  all  the  lands,  it  is  also  well  to  consider  what  can 
be  done  by  local  authorities  and  by  individuals  in  the  same 
direction.  The  numerous  zoological  and  botanical  gardens 
which  have  been  established  in  different  parts  of  the  world 
have  in  part  the  same  motive  that  is  to  be  embodied  in  the 
larger  institutions  which  we  would  see  founded  ;  they  seek  to 
preserve  the  interesting  and  instructive  animals  and  plants, 
and  in  some  cases  contrive  to  perpetuate  the  kinds.  The 
trouble  is  that  their  main  purpose  is  to  make  a  striking  show, 
one  that  will  attract  the  eye  and  lead  to  profit  of  an  immedi- 
ate kind.  If  these  institutions  could  be  persuaded  to  add  to 
their  former  exhibitions  grounds  designed  for  the  maintenance 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  261 

of  the  natural  order,  true  wildernesses,  where  the  native  life 
would  find  a  fit  place  of  abode  and  where  it  would  be  pro- 
tected from  the  ravages  of  man  or  from  accident,  a  certain 
gain  would  be  made ;  at  least  the  masses  of  our  city  people, 
who  have  now  come  to  control  legislation  in  the  great  states, 
would  be  brought  to  see  the  beauties  of  the  primitive  con- 
ditions which  they  now  rarely  have  a  chance  to  behold.  Yet 
more  might  be  accomplished  if  men  of  wealth  could  be  in- 
duced to  turn  their  generous  spirit  towards  this  object.  There 
are  many  parts  of  this  country  where  reservations  are  most 
desirable  and  where  the  price  of  land  is  so  low  that  an  area  of 
thirty  thousand  acres  could  be  acquired  for  that  number  of 
dollars.  A  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  would, 
at  the  present  rates  of  interest,  afford  the  revenue  necessary  for 
the  pay  of  a  keeper  and  half  a  dozen  guards,  a  sufficient  force 
to  maintain  a  due  watchfulness  against  depredations.  More- 
over, the  use  of  such  land  as  an  asylum  would  not  prevent  a 
careful  exploitation  of  its  timber  resources,  which  in  many 
cases  would  give  a  sufficient  return  to  provide  for  the  polic- 
ing expenses,  as  well  as  for  incidental  costs  incurred  in  bring- 
ing upon  the  land  species  from  the  neighboring  country  which 
it  might  be  desirable  to  introduce.  At  a  cost  of  not  more 
than  a  million  dollars  it  would  be  possible  to  secure  and 
maintain  a  well-chosen  system  of  guarded  wildernesses  which 
would  preserve  the  characteristics  of  the  original  plant  and 
animal  life  in  all  the  region  of  this  country  lying  to  the  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

It  would  be  essential  in  any  such  privately  founded  system 
of  wilderness  reservations  to  have  the  control  of  the  establish- 
ments in  the  hands  of  some  authorities  which  were  of  an 
enduring  nature.  In  our  American  experience  it  has  become 


262  DOMESTICATED  ANIMALS 

certain  that  such  trusts  cannot  be  safely  reposed  in  the 
state  or  national  governments,  or  in  the  hands  of  trustees 
chosen  for  the  particular  function.  The  only  authorities 
which  commend  themselves  for  the  execution  of  such  a  pur- 
pose are  those  of  our  universities.  In  these  institutions  we 
find  boards  which  are  chosen  for  the  attainment  of  intel- 
lectual ends  ;  in  certain  cases  the  choice  is  made  by  the  vote 
of  an  intelligent  body  of  alumni,  or  in  other  ways  guarded  by 
that  body,  so  that  the  chance  of  lapse  in  the  quality  of  the 
contract  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Several  instances  could 
be  given  showing  that  such  trusts,  even  when  they  do  not 
directly  pertain  to  the  teaching  work  of  these  institutions, 
have  been  long  and  faithfully  maintained.  We  may  there- 
fore look  upon  our  universities  as  the  natural  repositories  of 
confidences  which  pertain  to  the  continuous  intellectual  work 
of  man.  There  is  no  other  kind  of  association  where  inter- 
ests of  the  sort  which  would  have  to  be  cared  for  in  the 
reservations  of  the  wilderness  are  so  likely  to  receive  contin- 
uous attention.  In  these  homes  of  learning,  while  business 
considerations  enter,  personal  greed  is  naturally  absent. 

The  method  which  may  be  chosen  for  the  control  of 
wilderness  reservations,  though  a  problem  of  much  impor- 
tance, is  of  course  secondary  to  the  matter  of  their  establish- 
ment. This  work  should  at  once  command  the  attention  of 
those  persons  who  are  of  the  foresightful  class  who  see  beyond 
the  interests  of  the  day,  and  take  account  of  the  needs  of  the 
generations  to  come.  Such  men  will  do  well  to  begin  the 
work  by  organizing  a  society  which  shall  endeavor  to  arouse 
public  attention  to  the  destructive  effects  of  man's  occu- 
pation of  the  earth  by  his  civilizations.  The  people  need 
to  be  taught  the  true  meaning  of  the  indigenous  life  in 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  DOMESTICATION  263 

relation  to  the  problems  of  the  origin  and  destiny  of  our  own 
and  other  life,  to  the  future  exercise  of  the  domesticating  art 
and  to  the  most  refined  gratifications. 

It  may  be  noted  that,  beginning  with  the  apparently 
simple  and  eminently  popular  questions  as  to  the  origin  and 
economic  history  of  the  animals  which  have  been  subjugated 
by  man,  we  have  been  naturally  led  to  the  consideration  of 
much  larger  problems,  those  relating  to  the  place  of  man  in 
the  order  of  nature,  and  his  duty  by  the  life  of  which  he  is  an 
integral  part.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  sense  of 
this  duty  which  mastery  of  the  earth  gives  or  should  afford 
is  to  be  one  of  the  moral  gifts  of  modern  learning.  So  long 
as  men  considered  themselves  to  be  accidents  on  the  earth,  - 
imposed  upon  it  by  the  will  of  a  Supreme  Being,  bufcdB^iewise 
related  in  origin  and  history  to  the  creatures  amid  which  they 
dwelt,  it  was  natural  that  they  should  exercise  a  careless  and 
despotic  power  over  their  subjects.  Now  that  it  has  been 
made  perfectly  clear  that  we  have  come  forth  from  the  maze 
of  the  lower  life,  that  all  these  tenants  of  the  wilderness  are 
sharers  in  the  order  which  has  brought  us  to  our  estate,  and 
that  each  one  of  them,  plant  and  animal  alike,  is  the  record  of 
the  impulses  which  lead  beings  upward,  we  can  no  longer 
keep  the  old  careless  attitude.  We  are  compelled  to  deal  with 
the  organic  hosts  as  we  deal  with  the  creatures  of  our  folds 
and  fields.  We  have  to  look  upon  them  all  as  a  member  of 
the  great  household  of  man,  made  such  by  the  intellectual 
conquest  of  the  world  to  which  he  has  attained.  We  may 
trust  the  sense  of  this  large  duty  to  extend  abroad  under  the 
influences  which  have  developed  it  in  the  minds  of  a  few  men, 
or  .we  may  hasten  its  development  by  a  propaganda  such  as  is 
carried  on  by  the  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to 


264  DOMESTICATED   ANIMALS 

animals.  If  this  latter  course  is  taken  the  teaching  should  be 
on  a  higher  plane  than  that  which  we  have  yet  had  from  those 
generally  admirable  associations.  Bad  as  is  the  ill  treatment 
of  domesticated  animals,  the  suppression  of  that  evil  will  not 
bring  us  materially  nearer  the  true  attitude  that  we  need  to 
assume  in  face  of  our  responsibilities  to  the  natural  world. 
We  need  to  see  the  greatness  of  the  responsibility  which  has 
been  imposed  upon  us  by  the  action  of  the  guiding  power 
that  has  made  us  lords  of  the  earth. 


INDEX 


Animals,  rights  of,  204. 

"         separation    of    city    folk    from, 

223. 

educability  of,  227. 
Antelopes,  247. 
Aryan   race,    relation    to    domestication, 

152,  220. 

"       relation    to   rights    of  ani- 
mals, 208. 
Ass,  93. 

Bears,  possible  domestication  of,  243. 
Beasts  of  burden,  103. 
Beaver,  246. 

habits  of,  246. 
domestication  of,  247. 
Bee  (honey),  191. 

"    in  North  America,  195. 
Big  Bone  Lick,  Ky.,  129. 
Birds,  152. 

free-flying  species  of,  182. 
"       tree  species  of,  182. 
vocal  powers  of,  183. 
aesthetic  nature  of,  187. 
"       conditions  of  domestication  of,  233. 

future  domestication  of,  235. 
Bison,  106. 

domestication  of,  241. 
Buffaloes,  105. 

African,  106. 
Bulls,  105. 
Camels,  origin  of,  119. 


Camels,  limited  nature  of,  120. 
"       lessening  value  of,  124. 
Cattle  (horned),  value  of,  no. 

"      variations  of,  113. 
Cats,  origin  of  domesticated  forms  of,  51. 
"     their  love  of  well-kno\vn  places,  51. 
"     compared  with  dogs,  52. 
"     their  return  to  wild  state,  55. 
"     no  large  species  domesticated,  56. 
Cochineal,  201. 
Dogs,  origin  of,  n. 

fossil  species  of,  15. 
"      savage  selection  of,  17. 
"      civilized  conditions  of,  18. 

shepherd  breed  of,  etc.,  19. 
"      hunting  varieties  of,  25. 
"      intellectual  qualities  of,  29. 
"      evils  of  fancy  breeding,  31. 

lack  of  constructive  faculty,  40. 
"      modes  of  expression,  44. 
"      effect  on  human  sympathy,  48. 

possible  new  varieties  of,  50. 
Domestication,  relation  to  culture,  2. 

"  relation  to  sympathies,  4. 

"  slow  institution  of,  7. 

"  mainly  by  Aryan  people, 

152. 

"  problem  of,  218. 

"  hap-hazard  nature  of,  225. 

"  conditions  of,  229. 

Domesticability,  on  what  depending,  107. 


266 


INDEX 


Donkey,  93. 

"        limited  use  of,  94. 
Elephants,  native  freedom  of,  107. 
"  origin  of,  127. 

"  ancient  species  of,  128. 

"  present  limitation  of,  130. 

"  use  in  war,  130. 

"          domesticability  of,  131. 
"          intelligence  of,  132. 
"          possible  improvement  of,  137. 
"  future  care  of  species  required 

for  preservation,  249. 
Falconry,  184. 

Fishes,  limits  of  domestication,  232. 
Fowls  (barnyard),  153. 

"      mental  qualities  of,  154. 
"      voices  of,  155. 
"      domesticability  of,  156. 
"      game  variety  of,  159. 
Giraffe,  249. 
Goats,  115. 

"      limited  relation  to  man,  116. 
"       little  variation  of,  117. 
"      limited  intelligence  of,  1 1 8. 
Guinea  hen,  164. 
Hawking,  184. 

Horse,  economic  value  to  man,  57. 
"       origin  of,  58. 
"       hoof  of,  61. 

field  in  which  developed,  65. 
"       domestication  of,  66. 

use  in  war,  67. 
"       effect   of  mounted  men  on  early 

peoples,  69. 
"       future  use  in  military  campaigns, 

70. 

"       value  in  agriculture,  74. 
"       mental  qualities  of,  75. 
"       ready  variations  of,  78. 


|  Horse,   Norman  variety  of,  82. 

"       geographic  varieties  of,  83. 
"       Arabian  variety  of,  85. 
"       Indian  ponies,  86. 
"       care  of,  87. 
"       shoeing  of,  91. 
"       influence  on  man,  100. 
Hybrids,  utility  of,  96. 
Insects,  190. 

limited  value  to  man,  190. 
Kangaroo,  240. 
Mammalia,   value    of  class  as  source   of 

domesticable  animals,  149. 
future  domestication  of,  238. 
Mammals  (tertiary),  150. 
Mammoth,  129. 
Man,  his  place  in  nature,  I. 

sudden  appearance  of,  6. 
as  a  destroyer,  229. 

Martha's  Vineyard  prairie  chicken,  257. 
Milk,  value  of,  as  food,  no. 
Monkeys,  little  use  to  man,  250. 
"          value  for  inquiry,  250. 
Mule,  95. 

limitations  in  use  of,  95. 
"      only  hybrid  serviceable  to  man,  96. 
"      mental  qualities  of,  98. 
Musk  ox,  241. 
Organic  hosts,  253. 
Ostrich,  168. 

"        possible  improvement  of,  108. 
Pack  animals,  104. 
Parks,  national,  etc.,  256. 
Pea-fowl,  162. 

"         habits  of,  163. 
"         intelligence  of,  164. 
Pets,  influence  of,  223. 
Pig,  origin  of,  140. 
"     value  of  flesh,  140. 


INDEX 


267 


Pig,    progressive  domestication  of,  142. 
"     intelligence  of,  143,  148. 
"     variations  in  habits  of,  147. 
Pigeons,  175. 

origin  of,  176. 
breeds  of,  177. 
mental  qualities  of,  180. 
Plants,  danger  of  extinction  of  species  of, 

250. 

Refuge  stations.     (See  Reservations.) 
Reservations  (of  wilderness),  256. 

American,  256. 
"  foreign,  259. 

"  cost  of,  261. 

Rhinoceros,  249. 
Rights  of  animals,  204. 

"  "  origin  of,  205. 


Savages,  relation  of,  to  animals,  219. 
Seals,  possible  domestication  of,  243. 
Sheep,  115. 

value  of  wool,  115. 

variations  of,  116. 

mental  qualities  of,  118. 
Silkworm,  197. 
Turkey,  origin  of,  165. 

variations  of,  166. 
mental  qualities  of,  167. 
Vivisection,  21 1. 
Water-birds,  169. 

flight  of,  169. 

"  sympathetic  quality,  171, 

Wildernesses,  destruction  of,  224. 

"  reservations  of,  256. 

Wool-bearing  animals,  114. 


YC   I  1 568 


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